Columbia  ®[nibers!itp 

in  tfje  Citp  of  iSeto  gorfe 

THE  LIBRARIES 


fTHEWd 


THE  QUAKER 


A  Study   in    Costume 


BY 

AMELIA   MOTT   GUMMERE 


"  Chuse  thy  Cloaths  by  thine  own  eye, 
not  anothers.  The  more  simple  and  plain 
they  are,  the  better.  Neither  unshapely, 
nor  fantastical ;  and  for  Use  and  Decency, 
and  not  for  Pride." 

William  Penn,  1693. 
"Some  Friiits  of  Solitude." 


FERRIS    &    LEACH,  Publishers 

29  North  Seventh  Street 
1901 


kJF  (THEWS 


CoPYBioHT,  1901,  BY  Ferris  &  Lkach. 


CSi 
CO 
CO 


INTRODUCTION 


The  traditional  idea  of  Quakerism  always  carries 
with  it  a  suggestion  of  peculiarity  in  dress;  and  this 
peculiarity  has  been  so  marked,  that  Quaker  life  can 
hardly  be  portrayed  without  an  understanding  of  the 
history  of  the  garb.  The  day  has  come,  however,  when 
the  question  of  dress,  even  for  the  Quaker,  is  no  longer 
bound  up  with  the  plan  of  salvation.  We  have  him 
sufficiently  in  perspective  to  turn  our  modern  camera 
upon  him,  and  study  the  variations  of  this  once  vital 
question;  for  if  it  is  in  any  degree  true  that  "  dress 
makes  the  man,"  certain  it  is  that  dress  at  one  time 
went  far  to  make  a  Quaker — at  least  to  the  world's 
thinking.  There  is  a  picturesque  side  to  the  story  of 
the  Quaker;  he  himself  hardly  appreciates  how  much 
of  the  romantic  there  has  been  in  his  quiet  life.  The 
trend  of  his  thought  has  led  him  to  take  himseK  too 
seriously,  and  he  has  lost  much  of  the  sense  of  his  rela- 
tion to  the  great  world  around  him.  Quaker  dress  and 
customs  have  varied  as  the  times  have  changed,  often 
in  a  very  interesting  way;  but  perfect  simplicity,  unin- 
fluenced by  outside  thought,  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in 
this  world,  short  of  Patagonia.  The  student  of  a  philo- 
sophic turn  of  mind  will  find  much  light  thrown  upon 
the  man  in  drab,  if  he  will  attentively  observe  his 
habits,  manner  of  life  and  "  conversation  " — a  word 
meaning  in  the  Quaker,  as  in  the  Pauline  vocabulary, 


iv.  INTRODUCTION. 

his  whole  style  of  living,  and  intercourse  with  his  fel- 
low-men. 

There  are  three  distinct  periods  into  which  the  his- 
tory of  Quaker  dress  will  naturally  fall: — the  period  of 
persecution,  when  the  early  Friends  had  everything  at 
stake,  and  life  was  to  them  more  than  meat  and  the 
body  than  raiment;  the  second,  or  reactionary  period, 
when  their  position  was  established,  their  cause  won, 
and  prosperity,  with  its  successes,  was  proving,  as  it 
always  will  prove,  a  far  more  dangerous  foe  than  the 
perils  of  adversity;  and  the  third,  or  modern  period, 
when  the  crisis  of  the  present  brings  them  face  to  face 
with  intricate  problems,  and  dress  again  falls  into  its 
proper  place  in  the  general  scheme  of  things.  We  shall 
see  that  in  the  face  of  a  real  issue,  Quakerism  disre- 
garded the  question  of  dress;  and  it  is  worth  while  to 
trace  the  growth  and  development  of  the  traditional 
idea  of  Quaker  costume,  as  it  has  come  to  be  universally 
accepted.  In  other  words,  we  shall  study  the  Quaker 
in  the  light  of  a  Higher  Criticism,  applied  to  the  Doc- 
trine of  Clothes. 

Since  the  great  days  of  persecution,  when,  for  the 
sake  of  a  principle,  all  the  minor  "  testimonies  "  gained 
in  weight  and  import,  bearing  their  share  in  forwarding 
the  cause  of  Truth  and  Quakerism,  many  of  the  beliefs 
then  peculiar  to  a  sect  are  now  held  by  multitudes  of 
God-fearing  people  the  world  over.  A  total  absence  in 
the  denominational  schools  of  any  proper  teaching  of 
Quaker  history,  has  in  past  years  made  the  matter  of 
dress  a  veritable  "  cross  "  to  many  a  youthful  member, 
who  has  thrown  off  the  obnoxious  burden  as  soon  as  he 
was  master  of  his  own  movements;  a  result  that  might 


INTRODUCTION.  v. 

frequently  have  been  avoided,  had  he  at  all  appreciated 
his  inheritance.  But  an  understanding  of  the  spirit  of 
Quakerism  can  no  more  come  by  heredity  alone  than 
can  any  of  the  other  Christian  virtues;  and  many  a 
young  soul  has  lived  himgry  for  some  explanation  of 
the  reason  for  the  singularity  forced  upon  him,  quite 
unsatisfied  by  being  told  that  the  elder  Friends  "  de- 
sired to  have  him  encouraged."  The  force  of  example 
in  this  case  has  had  a  magnificent  demonstration;  but 
even  it  has  failed  to  give  the  intelligent  understanding 
of  causes,  \vithout  which,  when  the  test  comes,  the 
strain  must  prove  too  great.  The  present  crisis  in  the 
whole  religious  world  is  upon  the  Quaker  no  less  than 
upon  every  other  member  of  a  sect.  How  many  of  his 
young  people  can  judge,  from  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  history  of  their  Society,  whether  the  new  problems 
— social,  religious  or  moral — are  counter  to  his  own 
ancestors'  teachings,  put  forth  at  the  cost  of  life  itself, 
or  not?  The  dead  bones  of  Quaker  prophets  must  be 
made  to  live  again  in  the  history  of  their  lives  and  all 
they  meant,  or  the  youth  of  the  Society  cannot  be  prop- 
erly accounted  Quakers.  They  mil  doubtless  become 
good  Christians,  in  the  flood  of  modern  religious  teach- 
ing now  surrounding  them.  And  it  is  possible  that  this 
is  enough,  and  the  Quaker  has  done  his  part,  and  won 
repose.  If  not,  then  I  believe  that  the  Quakers  have 
not  sufficiently  appreciated  the  immense  chasm  between 
seventeenth  and  nineteenth  century  needs,  and  that 
there  are  "  crosses  "  far  more  weighty  to  be  borne  than 
this  of  the  garb,  which,  if  it  be  worn  at  all,  should  be 
regarded  as  a  privilege.  The  penitential  spirit  of  the 
last  century  Quaker,  rather  than  combat  the  great  evils 


vL  INTRODUCTION. 

existing  in  the  world  about  him,  and  manfully  seek  to 
clear  its  political  and  social  atmosphere,  spent  fruitless 
energy,  first,  in  adding  to  the  weight  of  this  "  cross  " 
of  his  peculiar  garb,  and  then  in  teaching  his  constitu- 
ency how  to  be  patient  under  their  burden,  forgetting, 
as  Vaughan  has  well  put  it,  that  "  there  is  quite  as 
much  self-will  in  going  out  of  the  way  of  a  blessing  to 
seek  a  misery,  as  in  avoiding  a  duty  for  the  sake  of 
ease." 

The  descriptions  here  given  have  in  every  case  had 
the  authority  of  an  original  article  of  dress,  or  the  expe- 
rience of  a  participant  in  the  incident  quoted.  Despite 
the  lapse  of  time,  there  still  exists  ample  material  for 
the  study  of  Quaker  costume.  Doll  models  still  remain ; 
the  flat  hat  is  a  treasured  relic  in  more  than  one  family, 
and  old  silhouettes,  daguerreotypes,  portraits  and  pen 
drawings  are  to  be  found  in  many  a  household  whose 
walls  have  never  been  adorned  mth  such  vanities,  sim- 
ply because  human  affection  is  too  strong  to  be  lightly 
set  aside.  There  is  no  community  of  people  among 
whom,  as  a  class,  family  heirlooms,  old  plate,  and  the 
costumes  of  an  earlier  day  are  more  highly  valued  or 
more  carefully  handed  down  from  parent  to  child,  than 
the  Quakers.  These  have  been  called  upon  for  their 
secrets  of  the  precious  past,  and  have  been  of  great  ser- 
vice in  preparing  the  following  pages,  thanks  to  their 
generous  owners.  My  acknowledgments  are  also  espe- 
cially due  to  Mr.  Sidney  Colvin,  of  the  British  Museum, 
for  his  kind  permission  to  reproduce  certain  prints,  and 
to  Charles  Roberts,  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  use  of  his 
unique  collection  of  Quakeriana.  A  M  G 

Haverfard,  Pa.,  1901. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction,  .....  iii 


CHAPTER 

I. — The  Coat,       ......  1 

II.— The  Spirit  of  the  Hat,  ...  65 

III.— Beards,  Wigs  and  Bands,       .  .  .  .91 

IV.— The  Quakeress,  .  ...  121 

V. — The  Evolution  of  the  Quaker  Bonnet,       .  .       187 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FULL-PAGE    PLATES. 


Charles  I.,       .  .  .  .  .  Frontispiece 

Detail  from  original  painting  by  Van  Dyck,  in  the  Louvre. 


"William  Penn, 


OPP. 
PAGE 


From  the  full-length  mezzotint  by  Earle,  of  Philadelphia,  after 
the  original  painting  by  Inman. 

"From  Lively  to  Severe,"     ....  12 

L  "  The  Youth  bkfoke  Conversion." 

IL  "  The  Youth  after  Conversion." 

Illustrations  for  "War  with  ye  Devil,  or  The  Young  Man's 
Conflict  with  ye  Powers  of  Darkness."  1676.  By  B.  K. 
[Benjamin  Keach],  Bodleian  Library. 

George  Fox,  1624-1690,        .  .  .  •  .16 

From  an  engraving  by  Allan,  after  the  painting  by  Chinn. 

Elias  Hicks,  1748-1830,  ....  41 

From  a  silhouette. 

Stephen  Grellet,  1773-1855,  .  .  .  .42 

From  a  silhouette. 

A  Welsh  Tea  Party,  ....  60 

From  a  recent  photograph,  by  courtesy  of  The  Outlook  Company. 

George  Dillwyn,  1738-1820,  .  .  .  .71 

After  an  engraving  on  stone  by  J.  Collins. 

Four  Old-Time  Pennsylvania  Worthies,        .  .  72 

John  Pemberton,  1727-1795. 
Henry  Drinker,  1734-1809. 
James  Pemberton,  1724-1809. 
John  Pabeish,  1730-1807. 

Septimus  Roberts,  1807,  Aged  18,  ...         74 

After  the  etching  by  RosenthaL 


OPP. 

PAGE 

William  Penn,  .....  96 

After  the  bust  in  ivory  by  Sylvanus  Bevan. 

Moses  Brown,  1738-1836,      .  .  .  .107 

Engraved  by  T.  Pollock,  after  the  portrait  by  W.  J.  Harris. 

GULIELMA  Springett,  First  Wife  of  William  Penn,  1644-1694,  129 

From   an  engraving  after  the  original  painting  on   glass,   in 
possession  of  descendants  of  Henry  Swan,  of  Dorking,  England. 

Hannah  Callowhill,  Second  Wife  of  William  Penn,  1664-1726,     130 

Original  painting  at  Blackwell  Hall,  County  Durham,  England. 
Copy  in  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia. 

The  Collar,     ......  140 

I.  Miss  Fitzgerald,  Lady-in- Waiting  to  Qdeen 

Caeoline.    1800. 

After  the  painting  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence. 

II.  Margaret  Morris,  Wife  op  Isaac  Collins, 
Jr.,  1792-18.32. 

From  the  drawing  on  stone  of  A.  Newsam,  after  the  original 
painting. 

"Going  to  Meeting  in  1750,"         .  .  .  .155 

From  an  original  photograph. 

A  Quaker  Wedding,  1820,         ....  162 

After  the  original  painting  by  Percy  Bigland  in  possession  of 
Isaac  H.  Clothier,  Wynnewood,  Pennsylvania. 

The  Two  Friends,  .  .  .  .  .164 

After  the  engraving  by  Bouvier,  London.    About  1835. 

The  Fair  Quaker,       .....  166 

London,  1782. 

Elizabeth  Fry,  1780-1845,  .  .  .  .184 

After  the  portrait  by  George  Richmond,  1824. 

Martha  Routh,  1743-1817,         .  .  .  .  leo 

SUhouette  in  possession  of  Charles  Roberts,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Quakers'  Meeting,  about  1648,  .  .  .194 

After  the  original  engraving  by  Egbert  van  Heemskerck. 


OPP. 
PAGE 

The  Calash,     ......  207 

Invented  1765.      Worn  until  about  1830.      From  an  original 
photograph. 

The  Cap,    .......       208 

I.  Martha  Washington,  Silhouette. 
II.  Amelia  Opie,  1769-1853. 
Engrayed  by  Lightfoot,  from  the  medallion  done  in  Paris  by  David. 

Gracechukch  Street  Meeting,  London,  1776,  .  218 

Original  painting  in  Devonshire  House  collection,  London. 

"The  Bride,"         .  .  .  .  .  .219 

From  the  original  in  the  "  Aurora  Borealis,"  published  at  New 
Castle-upon-Tyne,  1833. 

Queen  Victoria,  .....  220 

After  an  engraving  by  Freeman.    London,  1837. 

Fashion  Plate,  about  1849,  .  .  .  .221 

From  "  Le  Conseiller  des  Dames,"  Paris. 

Kainy  Day  Cover,       .....  223 

From  an  original  photograph. 


ILLIJSTRATIOKS. 

IN    TEXT    MATTER. 


PAGE 

Initial,  Male  Costume,  1787,  ....  3 


Male  Costume,  1818,     .....  35 

After  Martin. 

Sunshade,  1760,       .              .              .              .              ,  .54 

Initial,  Time  of  James  I.,       .             .             .             .  57 

Hat  op  Douglas,  Earl  op  Morton,  1553,                .  .        59 

After  Repton. 

Hat  op  Charles  I.,       ....             .  60 

After  Martin. 

The  "  Kevenhullee,"        ,             .             .             .  .65 

After  Hogarth. 

Owen  Jones,  Colonial  Treasurer  of  Pennsylvania,  72 

Silhouette. 

Puritan  Hat,          .              .              .              .              .  .73 

High-crowned  Hat  of  1653,     ....  73 

Nantucket  Beaver  Hat,                .             .             .  .75 

Royalist  Hat,  Time  of  Commonwealth,          .             .  90 

After  Martin. 

Initial,  Dr.  John  Fothergill,      .              .              .  .93 


PAGE 

William  Dillwyn,  1805              ....  99 
Silhouette. 

Gabkiel-Maec-Antoine  de  Grellet,  1789,              .  .       120 
Silhouette  of  father  of  Stephen  Grellet. 

Initial,  Riding  Costttme,  1763,               ...  123 
After  Slartin. 

Female  Costume,  183.5,        .....        138 

Female  Costume,  1787,               ....  140 

Headdress,  1756,     .             .             .             .             .  .147 

Lady's  Riding  Hat,      .....  156 

Female  Costumes,  1776,      .             .             .             .  .164 

After  Martin. 

Hannah  Hunt,  1799,       .....  182 
Silhouette  of  Westtown's  first  scholar. 

Tail-piece. — Slippers  and  Clogs,               .             .  .185 

Initial,  Headdress  of  Reign  of  Edward  I.,                .  189 

Hood  of  1641,          .             .             .             .             .  .192 

Broad-brimmed  Hat  of  English  Women,  16.35,             .  193 

From  Hollar. 

Headdress,  1698,     .             .             .             .             .  .194 

From  "  Memoires,  etc.,  d'Angleterre." 

Hood  Worn  by  Cromwell's  Wife,       ...  195 

Headdress  of  Cromwell's  Time,  .             .             .  .197 

After  Repton. 

Hood  Worn  by  Cromwell's  Mother,                .              .  199 

"  Lavinia  "  Chip  Hat,  1819,             .             .             .  .202 

Trimmed  with  white  sarsenet  ribhon. 


'  COBKETTE,"  OCTOBEB,  1816,  .... 

Composed  of  tulle,  qtiilling  of  blonde  around  face,  bunch  of 
flowers  on  top.  Style  is  French,  "simply  elegant  and  becoming"  : 


PAGE 

204 


Headdbess  of  1786, 


209 


Pabisian  Peomesade  Hat,  1816, 


210 


Headdress  of  1776, 
Silhouette. 


211 


Eighteenth  Cexttby  Flat  Hat, 


215 


BoxNET  OF  Maetha,  Wife  of  SAsirsL  Auliksos, 

No  strings,  one  large  box-pleat  in  soft  crown. 


215 


English  Bonnet, 


222 


Bonnet  of  Eebecca  Jones,  of  Philadelphia, 

From  doll  model  dressed  by  "  Sally  Smith,"  of  BurUngton,  N.  J. 
Soft  gathered  crown,  large  cape  with  three  points— one  on  each 
shoulder  and  one  in  center  of  back. 


225 


Tail-piece  .—Bonnets, 

"  Wilburite."— 1856.— "  Gumeyite." 


228 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    COAT. 


And  that  Friends  take  care  to  keep  to  Truth  and  plain- 
ness, in  language,  habit,  deportment  and  behaTiour ;  that  the 
simplicity  of  Truth  in  these  things  may  not  wear  out  nor  be  lost 
in  our  days,  nor  in  our  posterity's ;  and  be  exemplary  to  their 
children  in  each,  and  train  them  up  therein  ;  that  modesty  and 
sobriety  may  be  countenanced,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord  take 
place  and  increase  among  them ;  and  to  avoid  pride  and 
immodesty  in  apparel,  and  extravagant  wigs,  and  all  other 
vain  and  superfluous  fashions  of  the  world  ;  and  in  God's  holy 
fear  watch  against  and  keep  out  the  spirit  and  corrupt  friend- 
ship of  the  world ;  and  that  no  fellowship  may  be  held  or  had 
with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  nor  therein  with  the 
workers  thereof.  Benjamin  Bealing.  Clerk. 

Epistle  of  London  Yearly  Meeting,  4th  mo.  1, 1691. 


CHAPTER  I. 


dress    of   a    time 
The    Philosopher 


THE    COAT. 

l!^  entire  generation  has  passed  since  the 
distinction  of  plain  dress,  as  under- 
stood by  the  Quakers,  became  obso- 
lete in  Great  Britain.  The  singu- 
lar conservatism  often  shown  by  a 
democratic  people  manifests  itseK  in 
this  matter,  touching  the  social  and 
religious  life  of  the  same  body  in 
America,  by  the  survival  in  one 
Quaker  community  of  the  "  plain  " 
and  occasion  long  since  gone  by. 
whose  Carlylean  glance  compre- 
hends the  close  relationship  existing  between  man's 
conscience  and  his  clothes,  realizes  that  so  far  as  the 
Society  of  Friends  is  concerned,  their  peculiarities 
of  dress  belong  to  past  history.  He  sees  also,  that 
whether  the  Quakers,  having  accomplished  a  mis- 
sion than  which  few  things  are  more  remarkable  in  the 
social  and  religious  history  of  the  past,  are  now  quietly 
awaiting  extinction,  or  whether  they  are  standing  in  the 
pause  for  breath  before  they  cast  aside  their  encum- 
brances to  plunge  into  the  new  socialism  which  should 
be  their  natural  inheritance  in  the  struggles  of  the  new 
century, — in  any  case  the  "  pride  of  potential  martyr- 
dom," as  a  recent  writer  puts  it,  has  been  one  of  the 
strongest  elements  in  the  old  Quakerism. 


4  TEE   QUAKER. 

In  the  burning  moment  of  the  first  inspiration  and 
enthusiasm,  when  the  watchword  was,  "  Come  out  from 
among  them  and  be  ye  separate,"  the  emphasis  of  that 
separateness  was  sought  in  the  minor  "  testimonies  "  of 
an  earnest  people.  Chief  among  those  "  testimonies  " 
was  plainness  of  garb.  But  the  world  has  counted  two 
centuries  and  a  half  of  progress  since  that  day,  and  its 
myriads  of  Socialists,  Roman  Catholics,  Salvation  Army 
soldiers,  and  the  wide  circles  of  a  uniformed  official 
class,  have  overtaken  and  swept  past  the  Quaker.  His 
neat  garb  and  his  honest  broad-brimmed  hat  are  no 
longer  conspicuous  in  the  moderation  that  has  followed 
the  periwigged  days  of  King  Charles  the  Second.  The 
Quaker  has  now  chosen  to  lay  aside  his  distinctive  garb, 
there  being  no  longer  the  same  occasion  for  its  exist- 
ence. It  marks,  where  it  still  survives,  the  formalism 
of  a  caste,  and  the  day  of  its  inspiration  is  over.  Since 
the  modifications  inevitable  for  continuance  involve 
the  disappearance  of  the  distinguishing  outward  garb  of 
Quakerism,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  seek  among  its 
records  the  history  of  that  idea  of  dress  which,  in  the 
early  days  of  persecution,  so  strongly  fortified  the  mar- 
tyr-spirit of  the  Quaker.  He  who  has  the  seeing  eye 
must  know  that  already  the  beautiful  garments  of  our 
stately  grandmothers,  the  t}^)e  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  have 
gone  forever.  Yet  let  us  honor  the  motives  of  high 
courage  and  strong  principle  which  led  a  whole  sect  to 
face  one  of  the  hardest  tests  of  the  human  spirit,  the 
world's  ridicule;  the  sincerity  of  their  principles  is  no- 
where better  voiced  than  in  the  "  Advices  "  given  forth 
to  its  members  by  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  in 
1726:     "  If  any  who  may  conceive  the  Appearance  of 


A   STUDY   IX   COSTUME.  5 

Plainness  to  be  a  temporal  Advantage  to  them  do  put 
it  on  with  imsanctified  Hearts  and  Minds  filled  with 
Deceit.  .  .  .  Such  as  they  are  an  Abomination  to  God 
and  to  good  Men." 

The  Tatter,  indeed,  with  its  inimitable  satire,  shows 
us  how  clothes  and  religion  get  intermingled.  It  makes 
Pasquin  of  Rome  write  Isaac  Bickerstaff: 

There  is  one  thing  in  which  I  desire  you  would  be  very  par- 
ticular. What  1  mean  is  an  exact  list  of  all  the  religions  in 
Great  Britain,  as  likewise  the  habits,  which  are  said  here  to  be 
the  great  points  of  conscience  in  England,  whether  they  are 
made  of  serge  or  broadcloth,  of  silk  or  linen.  I  should  be  glad 
to  see  a  model  of  the  most  conscientious  dress  amongst  you, 
and  desire  you  will  send  me  a  hat  of  each  religion;  and  likewise, 
if  it  be  not  too  much  trouble,  a  cravat.* 

There  has  been  no  attempt  in  the  following  pages  to 
enlarge  upon  the  doctrines  of  the  Quakers.  That  has 
been  sufficiently  done  elsewhere.  The  peculiarities  of 
Quakerism  "  as  to  the  outward,"  as  Fox  would  have 
said,  have  been  so  marked,  and  its  church  polity  for  the 
past  seventy-five  years  has  been  so  much  one  of  re- 
pression, that  the  outside  world  has  known  little  of  the 
Quaker;  when  it  has  perceived  his  presence,  it  has  not 
troubled  itself  to  understand  him,  nor  to  penetrate  the 
atmosphere  of  exclusiveness  that  has  surrounded  him. 

*Tatler,  No.  129.— "  The  Old  Cloak,"  which  has  been  attributed  to 
Swift,  also  points  the  same  moral,  although  his  satire  is  in  this  instance, 
not  directed  particularly  against  the  Quakers.    It  begins  thus  : 

"  This  cloak,  it  was  made  in  old  Oliver's  days, 
When  zeal  and  religion  were  lost  in  a  maze. 
'Twas  made  by  an  elder  of  Lucifer's  club, 
Who  botch'd  on  a  shop-board  and  whined  in  a  tub. 
'Twas  vampt  out  of  patches,  unseemly  to  name, 
'Twas  hem'd  with  sedition,  &  lin'd  with  the  same. 
This  cloak  to  no  party  was  yet  ever  true. 
The  inside  was  black,  and  the  outside  was  blue  ; 
'Twas  smooth  all  without  and  rough  all  within, 
A  shew  of  religion,  a  mantle  to  sin." 


(,  TEE   QUAKER. 

His  dress  has  had  much  to  do  with  this.  jSTo  one  has 
portrayed  the  Quaker  with  a  worldly  hand,  and  at  the 
same  time  been  just  to  his  principles,  sympathetic  with 
his  sufferings,  mindful  of  his  foibles;  and  it  is  a  fact 
that  so  far  no  attempt  has  been  made  from  within  the 
pale  to  handle  his  garb  in  the  light  of  other  people's 
opinions  and  experience,  to  treat  him  just  like  another 
man,  and  to  attempt  to  understand  why  his  costume  dif- 
fers. The  outsider  has  regarded  the  matter  as  little 
worth  his  time;  while  to  the  Quaker  himself,  the  sub- 
ject has  been  too  sacred  to  be  lightly  entered  upon.  Its 
importance  has  been  so  over-emphasized,  that  his  young 
people  have  often  failed  to  distinguish  between  the  doc- 
trine of  oaths  and  the  doctrine  of  the  coat-collar. 

The  present  essay,  then,  is  an  attempt  to  trace  the  de- 
velopment of  Quaker  costume.  It  has  been  approached 
like  the  history  of  any  other  costume,  with  no  detriment, 
/  we  trust,  to  its  dignity.  The  Quaker's  interpretation  of 
"  Truth  "  has  generally  been  regarded  as  the  cause  of 
his  peculiarities  in  dress.  And  so  far  as  the  essential 
doctrine  of  simplicity  as  taught  by  Fox  may  go,  this  is 
eminently  true.  It  is  true,  also,  of  some  of  his  customs, 
as,  for  instance,  the  refusal  to  doff  the  hat.  The  fol- 
lowdng  pages,  however,  attempt  to  show  that  the  typical 
Quaker  dress  has  been,  in  the  case  of  the  men,  a  sur- 
vival— a  crystallization,  in  essential  elements — of  the 
original  dress  of  Charles  the  Second;  while  that  of  the 
women  has  been  an  evolution, having  its  culmination  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later  in  the  costume  of  Elizabeth 
Fry.  Both  have  been  influenced  to  an  unappreciated  de- 
gree by  the  fashions  of  a  changing  world;  for  while  the 
Quaker  walks  this  "  vale  of  tears,"  try  as  he   may  to 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME,  7 

withdraw,  he  cannot  part  company  with  his  fellow-citi- 
zens. His  past  mistake  has  sprung  from  his  effort  to  be 
a  "  peculiar  people,"  as  well  as  to  be  "  zealous  of  good 
works."  Very  little  excites  ridicule  in  these  modern 
faddist  days:  certainly  no  distinctive  dress  of  any  sort. 
The  wide  philanthropy  once  the  inheritance  of  Quaker- 
ism, now  belongs  to  the  world  in  general.  Religious  tol- 
eration, for  which  the  Quakers  died,  bids  fair  to-day  if 
not  to  extinguish  the  Society,  at  least  to  break  down  its 
hedges  and  boundaries.  The  Athenian  wore  his  flowing 
robe  with  the  wish  to  be  plucked  on  the  sleeve  with  a 
"  what  ho  !  Philosopher."  The  Quaker  donned  his  garb 
from  the  opposite  desire  to  be  let  alone.  This,  of  course, 
was  the  Quaker  position  at  a  time  when  details  served 
to  emphasize  the  doctrines  of  their  sect.  In  the  two 
hundred  and  more  years  that  have  passed  since  the  days 
of  Fox,  the  occasion  for  such  emphasis  has  largely  dis- 
appeared. Not  only  among  Friends,  but  everywhere, 
the  different  denominations  are  tending  toward  greater 
uniformity.  This  very  fact  makes  people  look  leniently 
upon  the  peculiarities  of  the  Quakers,  who  had  the  best 
of  reasons  at  the  time  of  their  rise,  for  their  various 
"  testimonies."  The  anecdote  may  here  be  recalled  of 
Penn  and  the  King,  when,  to  the  sovereign's  question 
wherein  their  religious  beliefs  really  differed,  the 
Quaker  replied,  "  The  difference  is  the  same  as  between 
thy  hat  and  mine;  mine  has  no  ornaments."  The 
plain  coat  bears  upon  it  the  marks  of  an  historical  devel- 
opment. Warfare  and  politics  are  recorded  in  the  cut 
of  its  collar  and  the  sweep  of  its  tail.  Foreign  influ- 
ence, civil  strife,  diplomatic  relations  and  political  in- 
trigue all  have  power  to  alter  fashion  and  to  impress 


3  TEE   QUAKER. 

upon  a  certain  generation  a  particular  style  of  dress. 
The  "  Steenkirk  "  tie,  the  Sedan  chair,  the  farthingale 
and  the  "  tete  de  mouton "  are  striking  importations 
connected  with  foreign  warfare  and  politics.  But  re- 
ligious upheavals  stir  depths  and  work  changes  with  a 
,  rapidity  that  nothing  else  can  equal.  Let  a  man's  con- 
"^1  science  once  become  involved  in  his  garb,  and  the  garb 
is  capable  of  the  most  radical  changes.  The  Reforma- 
tion introduced  simplicity  at  one  bound  into  the  gor- 
geousness  of  the  medigeval  church.  Miss  Hill  points  out 
that  after  Cranmer  "  it  took  us  three  hundred  years  to 
reach  the  simplicity  of  the  Victorian  era,  while  the 
Church  accomplished  the  change  in  one  generation." 

There  is  a  parallelism  between  clerical  and  Quaker 
garb,  both  in  its  conservatism  and  its  simplicity  of  re- 
sult, as  well  as  the  profound  importance  attached  to  it 
by  its  adherents.  Dean  Stanley  tells  us  that  the  dress 
of  the  clergy  had  no  distinct  intention  at  the  start, 
"  symbolical,  sacerdotal,  sacrificial,  or  mystical,  but 
originated  simply  in  the  fashion  common  to  the  whole 
community  of  the  Roman  empire  during  the  first  three 
centuries."  *  In  the  earliest  times  in  England  the  ton- 
sure was  the  only  distinguishing  mark  of  the  clergy. 
Yet  we  all  know  to  what  elaborate  proportions  clerical 
dress  had  run  in  England  by  the  time  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey;  and  the  list  of  a  few  of  the  ordinary  garments 
of  a  country  parson  under  Henry  VIII.  would  make  an 
outfit  sufficient  for  a  modern  theatrical  show.  "  A 
gown  of  violet  cloth,  lined  with  red,  jerkin  of  tawny 
camlet,  tipped  with  sarcanet,  two  hoods  of  violet  cloth 

*  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley,  "  Christian  Institutions." 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  9 

lined  with  green  sarcanet,  a  black  cloth  gown  trimmed 
with  lamb."*  Over  against  this  set  the  reforming 
Cranmer,  in  his  dark  cassock  and  leathern  girdle.  As 
the  Quaker  rebelled  in  spirit  against  extravagance  in 
dress,  his  impulse  was  not  to  devise  a  new  costume,  but 
to  eliminate  from  that  he  wore,  the  offending  elements. 
Hence,  retaining  the  early  cut,  he  evolved  in  the  pass- 
ing years  a  costume  of  his  own,  just  as  the  church 
evolved  its  own  distinctive  dress.  The  clerical  habit  as 
at  present  worn  in  England  dates  from  the  time  of 
Charles  II.,  as  did  the  William  Penn  type  of  dress.  It 
is  striking  to  note  that  the  coat  of  a  prominent  minister 
among  Friends  in  ISTew  York  was  given  upon  his  death, 
in  1856,  to  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  who 
wore  it  without  requiring  any  change  whatever !  We 
are  told  that  Father  Greaton,  the  Jesuit  priest  who  was 
first  sent,  in  1732,  from  Baltimore  to  build  and  settle 
a  Romish  Church  in  the  Quaker  City  (which  later  be- 
came Saint  Joseph's)  was  wily  enough  on  arriving  to 
put  on  the  Quaker  habit.  He  soon  donned  his  own 
black  clerical  garb ;  but  he  was  careful  not  to  offend  the 
Quakers  in  dress  or  speech,  and  his  first  church  building 
might  easily  have  been  a  meeting-house  for  plainness. 
The  dress  of  the  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  at 
the  present  day  more  nearly  resembles  that  of  Penn 
and  his  colleagues  than  any  garb  of  modern  times; 
vastly  more,  in  fact,  than  the  "  plain  "  dress  of  their 
spiritual  descendants.  This  includes  the  linen  bands,  as 
shown  in  portraits  of  Fox  and  ^ayler.f     The  clerical 

*  Georgiana  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress."    Vol.  I.,  p.  236. 

t  The  original  of  the  latter  is  in  the  library  of  Peter's  Court  Meeting- 
house, London. 


10  THE    QUAKER. 

dress-suit  of  the  present  is  a  correct  model  of  the  court 
coat  of  Charles  II.,  in  cut  and  general  style. 

The  most  picturesque  period  in  the  whole  history  of 
English  dress  was  that  of  the  princely  Stuarts,  as  Van 
Dyck  has  long  been  telling  us.  It  was  an  age  of  swift 
change  and  vivid  contrast,  of  luxury  and  unbridled 
license,  when  extravagance  ran  riot  in  the  English 
court,  and  wonderful  tales  of  splendor  at  Versailles  set 
all  St.  James  wild  with  envy.  Great  events  crowded 
fast  upon  each  other;  King  Charles  lost  his  royal  head, 
after  which,  for  a  time,  the  Protector  and  the  Puritans 
had  things  their  own  way.  Then  followed  the  Restora- 
tion, with  churchly  prestige,  and  debauchery  and  ex- 
travagance striving  together.  A  feeble  attempt  at 
popery  came  next  under  James  11. ,  and  finally  an  estab- 
lished church  and  prosperity  under  Queen  Anne — all 
this  in  the  lifetime  of  one  man !  Into  this  scene,  with 
its  vivid  lights  and  its  shadows  unfathomable,  where 
Cavalier  and  Roundhead  are  eyeing  each  other,  hand  on 
sword  and  hate  in  heart,  steps  the  striking  figure  of  the 
early  Quaker;  and  from  the  moment  of  his  entrance 
on  the  stage,  a  purer  faith  and  liberty  of  conscience  be- 
come possible  in  dogma-ridden  England.  His  true  part 
in  English  history  is  yet  to  be  written.  Keen  to  de- 
nounce alike  luxury  in  the  court,  and  crime  in  the 
slums,  loyal  always  to  his  sovereign  Prince,  even  if  re- 
fusing to  doff  the  hat,  or  swear  allegiance,  and  true 
always  to  the  impartial  enlightenment  of  every  man, 
the  Quaker  is  chiefly  to  be  thanked  for  many  of  our 
cherished  religious  privileges. 

Could  George  Fox  have  looked  ahead  to  this  day,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  he  would  have  been  perfectly  satis- 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  H 

fied  with  the  simplicity  of  male  costume  in  the  world 
at  large;  and  that  the  modification  must  have  come 
without  George  Fox,  we  may  be  equally  sure.  Material 
progress  such  as  ours  was  not  possible  when  men  had 
to  guard  blue  satin  coats  and  costly  lace  from  soil. 
Fancy  Mr.  Edison  at  work  in  lace  ruffles !  Even  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  had  to  roll  up  his  sleeves.  George  Fox 
and  his  contemporaries  did  not  intend  to  establish  a 
precedent  of  any  sort  when  they  demanded,  rather  ar- 
bitrarily, that  their  followers  should  discard  all  adorn- 
ment  in  their  dress.  The  Mennonites,  who  antedate 
them  by  a  few  years,  and  to  w^hom  the  Quakers  are  in- 
debted for  many  of  their  practices,  had  adopted  sim- 
plicity of  attire  as  one  of  their  cardinal  principles;  and 
Independents,  Presbyterians  and  others  had  been  em- 
phasizing plainness  to  an  extreme  point.  The  first  dis- 
sension in  the  Leyden  community  of  Separatists  came 
from  the  lace  on  the  sleeve  of  Mrs.  Francis  Johnson, 
which  furnished  a  subject  for  eleven  years  of  strife. 
Bradford  says  they  were  so  rigid  that  some  of  them 
were  offended  at  the  whalebone  in  a  dress  or  sleeve,  or 
the  starch  in  a  collar.  The  Mennonites  disapproved  of 
ornaments  even  more  than  the  Friends  did  at  a  later 
date,  condemning  buttons,  buckles,  and  everything  not 
absolutely  necessary.  The  Baptist  Brethren  in  Hol- 
land (a  sect  that  arose  in  Germany  about  1521),  were 
called  "  Heftier "  or  "  Knopfler,"  because  they  ex- 
cluded buttons,  substituting  hooks,  like  the  Mennonite 
branch  in  Pennsylvania,  known  locally  as  "  hookers." 
In  some  parts  of  the  continent,  rows  of  silver  and  metal 
buttons  were  used  as  ornaments  on  coats  and  waist- 
coats; and  it  was  chiefly  against  these  that  the  Baptist 


13  THE   QUAKER. 

movement  was  directed.  The  use  of  hooks  and  eyes  on 
male  garb  instead  of  buttons,  was  confined  to  such  lo- 
calities as  had  made  the  adornment  of  their  clothes 
with  a  quantity  of  buttons  an  almost  national  custom. 
The  plain  dress  of  the  Quakers  will  be  found  to  have 
much  more  in  common  with  the  Baptists,  than  with  the 
Puritans,  unless  we  include,  as  is  often  erroneously 
done,  most  of  the  dissenting  sects  of  England  under  the 
latter  head.  In  the  United  States,  certainly,  the  many 
Puritan  laws  as  to  the  dress  of  both  sexes,  and  the 
elaborate  detail  of  rules  regarding  every  minor  item, 
with  the  frequent  enumeration  of  costly  and  extrava- 
gant fashions,  lead  us  inevitably  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  New  England  Puritan  was  far  from  the  plain  and 
meek  person  our  fancy  has  been  taught  to  draw;  but 
rather  that  he  was  gorgeous  in  his  highly  colored  rai- 
ment, his  -wigs  and  velvet ;  that  his  wife  was  a  positively 
appalling  person  in  her  finery,  so  soon  as  prosperity  had 
come  to  the  thrifty  pair  in  their  adopted  land. 

We  can  respect  the  feelings  of  the  first  Quakers  as 
to  ornaments,  for  th^ir  "  testimony  "  had  a  distinct  ob- 
ject to  accomplish;  many  felt  with  Ellwood  about 
^'  those  Fruits  and  Effects  of  Pride,  that  discover  them- 
selves in  the  Vanity  and  Superfluity  of  Apparell  which 
I,  so  far  as  my  Ability  would  extend  to,  took  alas !  too 
much  delight  in.  This  evil  of  my  doings  I  was  re- 
quired to  put  away  and  cease  from;  and  Judgment  lay 
upon  me  till  I  did  so.  Wherefore,  ...  I  took  off  from 
my  apparel  those  unnecessary  Trimmings  of  Lace  and 
Pibbands  and  useless  Buttons  which  had  no  real  ser- 
vice, but  were  set  only  for  that  which  was  by  Mistake 
called  Ornament,  and  I  ceased  to  wear  Eings."  * 

♦Journal  of  Thomas  Ellwood. 


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>.  >-t.^j::  ag-ate:  *'j!>>^.-. ,, .; ,, .  .r^""?^  .j_  ... 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  13 

By    a    very     similar   line    of   spiritual    experience, 

Thomas  Story  was  led  to  a  point  where  the  vanity  of 

human  wishes  was  forcibly  presented  to  him;  for  even 

before  learning  of  the  peculiar  tenets  of  the  Friends,  he 

had  adopted  some  of  their  outward  characteristics,  in 

discarding  sword  and  ornaments  of  dress.     He  did  not 

meet  the  man  whose  influence  led  him  to  become  a 

Quaker  until  1691;  yet  in  1689,  to  use  his  own  words: 

I  put  oflf  my  usual  Airs,  my  jovial  Actions  and  Address, 
and  laid  aside  my  Sword,  which  I  had  wore,  not  thro' 
design  of  Injury,  or  Fear  of  any,  but  as  a  modish  and  manly 
Ornament.  1  burnt  also  my  Instruments  of  Musick,  and  divested 
myself  of  the  superfluous  Parts  of  my  Apparel,  retaining  only 
that  which  was  necessary  or  deem'd  decent.  The  Lust  of  the 
Flesh,  the  Lust  of  the  Eye  and  the  Pride  of  Life,  had  their  Ob- 
jects and  Subjects  presented;  The  Airs  of  Youth  were  many 
and  potent;  Strength,  Activity  and  Comeliness  of  person  were 
not  a-wanting,  and  had  their  share;  nor  were  natural  Endow- 
ments of  Mind  or  Competent  Acquirements  afar  off,  and  the 
Glory,  Advancements  and  Preferments  of  the  World,  spread  as 
Nets  in  my  View,  and  the  Friendship  thereof  beginning  to  ad- 
dress me  with  flattering  Courtship.  I  wore  a  sword,  which  1 
well  understood,  and  had  foil'd  several  Masters  of  that  Science, 
in  the  North  and  at  London;  and  rode  with  firearms  also,  of 
which  1  knew  the  Use;  and  yet  I  was  not  quarrelsome;  for 
though  I  emulated,  I  was  not  envious;  But  this  rule  I  formed 
as  a  Man  to  myself,  never  to  ofl"end  or  aS'ront  any  wilfully,  or 
with  Design;  and  if,  inadvertently,  I  should  happen  to  disoblige 
any,  rather  to  acknowledge,  than  to  maintain  or  vindicate  a 
wrong  thing;  and  rather  to  take  ill  Behaviour  from  others  by  the 
best  Handle,  than  be  ofi"ended  where  no  off'ence  was  wilfully 
designed.  But  then  I  was  determined  to  resent,  and  punish  an 
AS'ront  or  personal  Injury,  when  it  was  done  in  Contempt  or 
with  Design;  and  yet  I  never  met  with  any,  save  once;  and 
then  I  kept  to  my  own  Maxims  with  Success;  and  yet  so  as 
neither  to  wound  nor  be  wounded;  the  good  Providence  of  Al- 
mighty being  ever  over  me;  and  on  my  side,  as  ever  knowing  my 
Meaning  in  all  my  Conduct.* 

*Thomas  Story,  Journal,  Folio  ed.,  p.  15. 


14  THE   QUAKER. 

The  Quakers,  in  fact,  will  be  found  to  have  held  a 
middle  ground  between  the  austerities  of  the  old-line 
Cromwellian  Puritans  and  Roundheads,  and  the  ex- 
travagances of  the  Cavaliers.  The  peculiarities  to 
which  in  later  days  they  so  closely  adhered,  were  the 
outgrowth  natural  to  a  body  which  clung  to  practices 
that  were  once  established,  with  the  tenacity  of  larger 
but  no  less  strongly  organized  religious  bodies,  like  the 
Roman  Catholics,  the  Mohammedans,  or  even  the 
Chinese.  A  distinctive  form  of  dress  was  at  no  time 
adopted  by  the  Quakers  with  "  malice  prepense."  The 
fact  that  in  the  second  century  of  their  existence  a 
peculiar  garb  came  to  be  regarded  as  so  essential,  goes 
to  prove,  not  vitality,  but  rather  a  period  of  decadence 
in  their  religious  principles.  The  marked  changes  that 
Quaker  costume  has  undergone,  while  they  have  not 
kept  pace  with  the  outside  world  as  regards  frequency 
of  modification,  are  yet  important  as  an  element  in 
studying  the  history  of  the  sect.  A  cause  is  often 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  moral  support  of  a  dis- 
tinctive and  conspicuous  style  of  dress,  as  for  instance, 
that  of  the  Salvation  Army.  John  Wesley  regretted 
that  he  had  not  made  a  regulation  about  dress.  He 
wrote  in  his  Journal:  "I  might  have  been  firm  (and 
I  now  see  it  would  have  been  far  better)  as  either  the 
people  called  Quakers  or  the  Moravians;  I  might  have 
said,  this  is  our  manner  of  dress,  which  we  know  is  both 
scriptural  and  rational.  If  you  join  with  us,  you  are 
to  dress  as  we  do,  but  you  need  not  join  us  unless  you 
please;  but,  alas !  the  time  is  now  past." 

George  Fox,  hoAvever,  did  not  dream  of  such  meas- 
ures among  his  o^Tn.  people.     The  simple,   unadorned 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  15 

costume  of  the  men  of  his  generation  was  all  that  Fox 
aspired  to.  Along  with  his  admonitions  as  to  all  ways  of 
living,  he  included  in  his  denunciations  every  extrava- 
gance of  dress.  This  alone  meant  a  revolution  difficult 
for  us  to  realize.  The  extremest  form  of  Paris  fashion 
to-day  would  be  simplicity  itself  compared  with  the 
dress  of  an  English  aristocrat  in  the  time  of  the  first 
Charles.  Until  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, there  appears  to  have  been  no  really  distinctive 
cut  in  Quaker  costume.  It  is  to  be  described  in  nega- 
tions, was  like  that  of  every  one  else,  and  was  only  con- 
spicuous for  what  it  lacked  of  the  popular  extravagances 
of  the  day.  When  men  wore  even  more  elaborate  cos- 
tumes than  women,  as  in  the  days  of  the  "  merry  mon- 
arch," anything  plain  was  noted  at  once.  CromwelFs 
dress  was  so  much  more  simple  than  that  of  the  kings 
before  and  after  him,  that  Quaker  simplicity  was  in  his 
time  less  conspicuous.  The  Protector  was  very  frugal 
in  attire.  He  wore  black  cloth  or  velvet,  sword-scarf, 
trunk-hose,  long  boots,  grey  hat  and  silver  clasp ;  varied 
at  times  with  doublet,  cloak  and  hose  of  coarse  cloth 
turned  up  with  velvet,  and  stockings  of  grey  worsted 
reaching  over  the  knee  to  meet  the  hose.  His  hair 
was  simply  arranged,  without  curls,  and  was  somewhat 
long  behind.  His  moustache  was  so  small  as  to  be 
quite  inconspicuous.  At  fifty-eight  he  looks  like  a 
Quaker  himself,  with  his  muslin  collar  and  long  hair. 
In  his  portrait,  by  Walker,  in  the  ITational  Gallery,  a 
page  ties  his  sash.  Quakers  and  Puritans  under  the 
Protector  were  more  distinguished  for  differences  of 
opinion  than  differences  of  garb.  An  old  author  de- 
clares that  "  short  cloaks,  short  hair,  short  bands  and 


16  TEE    QUAKER. 

long  visages  "  were  the  rule.  What  we  understand  as 
the  typical  Quaker  garb,  worn  by  WilKam  Penn,  was  a 
survival  of  that  of  Charles  the  Second,  when  the  dis- 
tinctive outward  marks  of  Quakerism  were  burned  into 
the  sect,  so  to  speak,  by  the  rigors  of  persecution.  The 
dress  of  Fox  was  more  nearly  that  of  Charles  the  First. 
This  was  to  be  expected  of  the  plain  countryman,  who 
would  naturally  cling  to  the  more  old-fashioned  garb; 
he  never  discarded  the  doublet,  and  always  wore  his 
own  hair  long;  whereas  Penn,  the  diplomat  and 
courtier,  followed  the  fashions  in  the  cut  and  stvle  of 
his  dress,  adopting  the  full-skirted  coat  of  the  sovereign, 
and  wearing  as  many  as  four  wigs  in  one  year. 

To  test  the  correctness  of  this  comparison,  let  us  take 
th©  costume  of  Charles  the  First  as  we  have  him  in  the 
great  portrait  by  Van  Dyck  in  the  Louvre.  The  King 
wears  a  hunting  dress  consisting  of  white  satin  coat, 
knee  breeches  in  red,  long  boots  with  square  toes,  flat 
lace  collar,  long  hair,  a  pearl  drop  in  the  left  ear  (which 
he  even  wore  to  his  execution),  and  carries  an  enor- 
mously long  cane.  Divest  him  now  of  all  his  super- 
fluities. Remove  the  enormous  feather  in  his  hat,  and 
Fox's  own  broadbrim  stands  revealed.  Both  King  and 
subject  wear  the  hair  "  banged  "  on  the  forehead,  fall- 
ing in  long  locks  on  the  shoulder — only  the  curls  and 
perfume  are  wanting  in  the  Quaker.  The  lace  worn  by 
the  King  at  throat  and  wrists  is  missing  altogether 
with  Fox,  plain  bands  only  being  visible  over  his  drab 
coat,  which  buttons  to  the  throat,  and  takes  the  place 
of  the  King's  satin  doublet  and  rich  cloak.  But  every 
other  man  of  plain  origin  wears  a  doublet  of  similar 
cut  to  that  of  Fox,  the  drab  in  his  case  being  for  the 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  17 

sake  of  economy,  and  hence  simplicity  in  not  dyeing  the 
cloth.  Leathern  breeches  and  jerkins  were  universal 
among  the  "  plainer  sort/'  as  George  Fox  called  them, 
and  were  also  worn  from  motives  of  economy.  Trou- 
sers were  not  to  be  invented  for  another  century.  The 
style  of  knee-breeches,  stockings  and  low  shoes  is  iden- 
tical with  Fox  and  his  King.  The  only  difference  is 
one  of  ornament.  Fox's  breeches  have  no  "  points," 
as  the  elaborate  bows  of  jewelled  ribbon  at  the  knee 
were  called;  the  stockings  are  of  homespun,  not  silk, 
like  the  King's;  and  the  heavy,  square-toed  shoes  are 
minus  the  elaborate  ribbons  on  the  instep.  Even  the 
long  cane  is  common  to  both.  Samuel  Smith,  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  kept  a  Journal,  and  who  died  in  1817, 
aged  eighty-one,  says  of  his  travels  in  England:  "At 
Samuel  Lythall's,  where  we  lodged,  I  saw  the  staff,  it  is 
said,  George  Fox  used  to  travel  with — a  large  cane  stick 
about  four  feet  in  length  and  ivory  head — looked  as 
though  it  might  have  belonged  to  a  country  squire,  and 
probably  had  been  Judge  Fell's."  And  this  is  all. 
The  dress  of  the  Quaker,  when  he  first  arose,  was  in  cut 
and  fashion  simply  the  dress  of  everybody,  with  all  ex- 
travagances left  off;  and  since  costume  was  then  so 
elaborate,  his  perfect  simplicity  was  quite  enough  to 
draw  attention  and  render  him  conspicuous,  even  had 
he  held  his  peace. 

0  transmutation! 
Of  satin  changed  to  kersey  hose  I  sing.* 

But  this  he  could  not  do,  and  many  were  his  testi- 
monies.   In  1654,  Fox  wrote: 

*Newcut,  in  "  The  City  Match,"  I,  4.    By  Jasper  Mayne,  1639. 


18  THE    QUAKER. 

My  spirit  was  greatly  burthened  to  see  the  pride  that  was 
got  lip  in  the  nation,  even  among  professors;  in  the  sense  where- 
of I  was  moved  to  give  forth  a  paper  directed 

"  TO   SUCH  AS   FOLLOW   THE   WORLD'S   FASHIONS. 

"What  a  world  is  this!  hoAv  doth  the  devil  garnish  himself! 
how  obedient  are  people  to  do  his  will  and  mind!  They  are  alto- 
gether carried  away  with  fooleries  and  vanities,  both  men  and 
women.  They  have  lost  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  the  meek 
and  quiet  spirit;  which  with  the  Lord  is  of  great  price.  They 
have  lost  the  adorning  of  Sarah;  they  are  putting  on  gold  and 
gay  apparel,  women  plaiting  the  hair,  men  and  women  powdering 
it;  making  their  backs  look  like  bags  of  meal.  .  .  .  They  must 
be  in  the  fashion  of  the  world,  else  they  are  not  in  esteem;  nay, 
they  shall  not  be  respected,  if  they  have  not  gold  or  .silver  upon 
their  backs,  or  if  the  hair  be  not  powdered.  But  if  one  have 
store  of  ribands  hanging  about  his  waist  at  his  knees,  and  in 
his  hat,  of  divers  colours,  red  white  black  or  yellow,  and  his 
hair  powdered,  then  he  is  a  brave  man,  then  he  is  accepted,  then 
he  is  no  Quaker.  He  hath  ribands  on  his  back,  belly,  and  knees, 
and  his  hair  powdered:  this  is  the  array  of  the  world.  .  .  . 
Likewise,  the  women  having  their  gold,  their  patches  on  their 
faces,  noses,  cheeks,  foreheads,  their  rings  on  their  fingers,  wear- 
ing gold,  their  cuffs  double  under  and  above,  like  a  butcher  with 
his  white  .sleeves;  their  ribands  tied  about  their  hands,  and 
three  or  four  gold  laces  about  their  cloaths;  this  is  no  Quaker, 
say  they.  .  .  .  Are  not  these,  that  have  got  ribands  hanging 
about  their  arms,  hands,  back,  waists,  knees,  hats,  like  fiddler's 
boys?  And  further,  if  one  get  a  pair  of  breeches  like  a  coat,  and 
hang  them  about  with  points  and  up  almost  to  the  middle,  a 
pair  of  double  cuffs  upon  his  hands,  and  a  feather  in  his  cap, 
here's  a  gentleman;  bow  before  him,  put  off  your  hats,  get  a 
company  of  fiddlers,  a  set  of  music,  and  women  to  dance.  .  .  . 
They  are  not  in  the  adorning  of  the  Lord,  which  is  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit,  and  is  with  the  Lord  of  great  price." 

Late  in  life,  in  Second  month,  1690,  he  issued  from 
the  home  of  his  stepson-in-law,  William  Meade,  at 
Gooseyes,  whither  he  had  retired  in  feeble  and  broken 
health,  a  note  of  warning  directed  "  To  such  as  follow 
the  fashions  of  the  world." 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  19 

Thomas  Ellwood,  whose  Journal  is  one  of  the  most 
graphic  pictures  of  the  day,  but  who,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
was  a  better  tutor  than  poet,  thus  bewailed  the  preval- 
ent extravagance: 

But  Oh!  the  Luxury  and  great  Excess 
Which  by  this  wanton  Age  is  us'd  in  Dress! 
What  Pains  do  Men  &  Women  take,  alas! 
To  make  themselves  for  arrant  Bedlam's  pass! 
The  Fool's  py'd  Coat,  which  all  wise  Men  detest, 
la  grown  a  Garment  now  in  great  Request. 
More  Colours  now  in  one  Waist-Coat  they  wear 
Than  in  the  Eainbow  ever  did  appear. 


And  he  that  in  a  modest  Garb  is  drest, 

Is  made  the  Laughing-stock  of  all  the  rest. 

Nor  are  they  with  their  Baubles  satisfy'd, 

But  sex-distinctions  too  are  laid  aside; 

The  Women  wear  the  Trowsies  and  the  Vest, 

While  Men  in  Muffs,  Fans,  Petticoats  are  drest. 

He  warns  Friends  of  the  danger  of  the  modes,  and 
says: 

It  hath  come  to  pass  that  there  is  scarce  a  new  Fashion  come 
up,  or  a  fantastick  Cut  invented,  but  some  one  or  other  that  pro- 
fesses Truth,  is  ready  with  the  foremost  to  run  into  it.  .  .  . 
Assuredly,  Friends,  if  Truth  be  kept  to,  none  will  need  to  learn 
of  the  World  what  to  wear,  what  to  put  on,  how  to  shape  or 
fashion  their  Garments,  but  Truth  will  teach  all  how  best  to 
answer  the  end  of  clothing.  .  .  .  Let  every  one  examine  himself 
that  this  Achan,  with  his  Babylonish  Garment,  may  be  found  out 
and  cast  out,  for  indeed,  he  is  a  Troubler  of  Israel.* 

"  Babylonish  garments "  sorely  troubled  the 
Friends,  and  it  was  with  those  of  them  who  were  tail- 
ors by  trade  much  as  it  was  with  John  Mulliner  and 

*  Thomas  Ellwood,  Journal,  p.  343. 


20  THE   QUAKER . 

his  musical  instruments.*  Gilbert  Latey,  a  very  inter- 
esting character  of  that  early  day,  was  a  master  tailor, 
whose  attention  to  business,  combined  with  his  natural 
tact  and  uprightness,  had  won  for  him  a  very  lucrative 
trade  among  the  worldly,  so  that  he  was  patronized  by 
the  gentlemen  of  fortune  about  the  court.  Becoming 
one  of  the  "  Children  of  the  Light,"  he  was  no  longer 
able  to  make  the  gay  clothing  that  the  fops  of  the  day 
required,  and  he  imperilled  his  fortune  by  declining  to 
take  any  more  such  orders,  although  eventually  a 
steady  plain  trade  remained  to  him  as  his  reward  of 
faithfulness.  King  Charles  the  Second,  while  out 
hunting  one  day,  met  him  upon  the  road,  and  the  merry 
monarch  called  out  to  the  Quaker  tailor  to  step  up  to 
his  horse's  side  for  a  chat,  after  which,  with  words  of 
cheer,  the  King  rode  to  his  hounds,  while  the  Quaker 
pursued  his  way  to  meeting,  f 

But  the  question  of  dress  became  more  and  more  im- 
portant as  the  cessation  of  active  persecution  gave  the 
Friends  time  to  devote  more  attention  to  its  details. 
Dress  was  every  day  growing  more  and  more  extrava- 
gant; there  seemed  no  limit  to  the  extremes  which  it 
might  reach.  A  cursory  glance  at  the  old  fashion 
plates  of  this  period,  or  an  examination  of  Hogarth's 
works  of  a  satirical  character,  will  show  us  in  a  mo- 
ment the  reason  for  the  emphasis  laid  on  dress  by  the 
early  Quakers — not  the  earliest,  however,  for  these  had 
been  occupied  with  a  struggle  that  involved  life  itself, 
and  had  no  time  for  attention  to  clothes.     Between 

*  See  chapter  on  Wigs. 

fBeck  and  Ball,  "History  of  London  Friends'  Meetings,"  p.  250. 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  21 

1660  and  1680,  men's  dress  underwent  many  more 
changes  than  that  of  women.  A  large  portion  of  a 
gentleman's  time  was  given  over  to  his  elaborate  toil- 
ette, and  fortunes  were  squandered  on  lace  and  wigs 
by  the  fops  and  ladies  of  fashion.  To  these  evils  the 
Quakers  very  naturally  directed  their  condemnation, 
and  the  subject  became  a  prominent  one  in  the  care  and 
instruction  of  their  youth.  How  to  guard  a  young  man 
from  the  dangerous  fascinations  of  a  periwig  that  meas- 
ured some  three  or  four  feet  in  length,  or  a  young 
woman  from  a  spreading  farthingale,  or  a  tight  bodice 
in  which  she  could  barely  draw  the  breath  of  life,  may 
not  seem  to  us  now  so  very  diflScult;  but  we  may  be  as- 
sured that  the  struggle  was  a  hard  one.  Wo  matter 
into  what  eccentricity  Dame  Fashion  led  her  followers, 
they  were  willing  to  be  guided  by  any  blind  extrava- 
gance; and  the  youthful  Quaker  cast  longing  eyes  in 
her  direction,  even  if  she  masqueraded  in  wig  or  farth- 
ingale, petticoat-breeches  or  wide  hoop.  More  and 
more  stringent  became  the  laws  of  the  Quakers  on  the 
subject ;  and  while  Aberdeen  seems  to  have  breathed  in 
the  atmosphere  of  the  Scotch  Covenanters  a  spirit  more 
rigid  than  is  to  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the  limits  of 
the  Society,  London  and  Dublin  were  not  far  behind. 
It  is  instructive  to  notice  that  drab  tape  was  just  as  bad 
as  red  tape. 

In  1686  the  Meeting  in  Dublin  seems  to  have  shown 
very  high  order  of  talent  in  dealing  with  the  question 
of  dress,  and  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter  when  it  at- 
tempted to  purify  the  source  of  supply.  The  General 
Meeting  appointed  meetings  of  tailors  "  to  see  that 
none  did  exceed  the  bounds  of  truth  in  making  of  ap- 


22  TEE   QUAKER. 

parel  according  to  the  vain  and  changeable  fashions  of 
the  world  ;  "  and  these  meetings  of  "  merchant  tail- 
ors and  clothiers  "  reported  to  the  church.  They  very 
judiciously  advised  Friends  to  "  wear  plain  stuffs  and 
to  sell  plain  things,  and  tailors  to  make  clothes  plain." 
And  also  to  ensure  their  wishes,  "  Friends  would  do 
well  to  employ  Friends  that  are  tailors,  for  the  en- 
couragement of  those  Friends  of  that  trade  that  cannot 
answer  the  world's  fashions."  This  may  be  the  rea- 
son, as  Barclay  *  suggests,  that  Dublin  Friends  were 
spared  the  details  of  Christian  simplicity  that  appear 
on  the  books  of  their  Scotch  brethren,  and  from  which 
we  may  get  an  insight  into  the  drastic  measures  of 
Aberdeen  and  Edinburgh.  The  trade  plan,  we  are  told, 
worked  so  well,  that  in  1693  they  invoked  the  aid  of 
joiners,  ship-carpenters,  brass-founders,  saddlers  and 
shoe-makers,  to  give  their  judgment  to  the  meeting  "  in 
the  matter  of  the  furniture  of  houses,  etc.,  etc.";  "  fine, 
shining,  glittering  tables,  stands,  chests  of  drawers  and 
dressing-boxes;  "  "  large  looking-glasses  and  painting 
of  rooms,"  as  well  as  "  painted  or  printed  hangings." 
Where  these  latter  were  needful,  they  would  do  well  to 
ad\dse  with  concerned  Elders  of  their  meetings  before 
they  put  them  up. 

The  Overseers  of  the  church  traveled  over  the  coun- 
try. They  inspected  the  shops  to  see  if  "  needless 
things  were  sold,"  such  as  "  lace  and  ribbons."  They 
inspected  the  houses  with  ornamental  "  eaves,"  and  of 
superfluous  size,  from  the  drawing-room  curtains,  with 
other  "  Babylonish  adornings  "  which  were  declared  to 

*  Robert  Barclay,  ' '  Inner  Life  of  the  Religious  Societies  of  the  Common- 
wealth." 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  23 

be  "  needless,"  to  the  kitchens  whose  array  of  "  shin- 
ing, needless  "  pewter  and  brass  pots,  pans  and  candle- 
sticks were  evidently  for  ornament,  and  therefore  con- 
trary to  the  "  simplicity  of  truth."  Figured,  striped 
or  flowered  stuffs,  cloths  or  silks  were,  about  1693,  gen- 
erally condemned.  As  Barclay,  from  whom  we  have 
already  quoted,  says:  "  The  whole  life  of  man,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  was  legislated  upon;  the  ornaments 
on  his  cradle  were  to  be  dispensed  with.  Mothers  were 
to  suckle  their  children.  It  hath  also  been  recom- 
mended to  our  Women's  Meeting  causing  [concerning  ?] 
their  child-bed  dressings  and  superfluities  of  that  nature 
that  things  may  answer  the  plainness  of  Truth's  princi- 
ples both  in  themselves  and  their  children  from  their 
births  upwards.  Coffins  ought  to  be  made  plain,  without 
covering  of  cloth  or  needless  plates."  In  1717  they  or- 
der that  chaises,  except  when  absolutely  necessary,  are  a 
needless  luxury.  The  food,  dress  and  even  the  gait  of 
the  children  come  imder  the  care  of  the  officers  of  the 
meeting,  as  well  as  the  deportment  of  the  nursemaids ! 
In  1719  "  floor-cloth,"  or  the  new  fashion  of  carpets, 
was  denounced,  grateful  to  the  feet  of  young  and  old 
on  the  cold,  chilly  floors  in  an  English  winter,  but 
savoring  of  other  vanities  then  being  introduced  with 
the  growth  of  the  Eastern  trade  under  the  care  of  the 
new  East  India  Company.  The  question  was,  how  far 
can  one  go  before  a  comfort  becomes  a  snare  or  a 
vanity.  A  vast  amount  of  time  was  wasted  in  searching 
for  the  line  of  demarcation.  Just  before  this,  "  the 
fashionable  using  of  tea  "  (another  Eastern  importa- 
tion, now  become  as  national  as  the  Union  Jack),  was 
ordered  to  be  avoided;  tea-tables  to  be  laid  aside,  "  as 


24  THE    QUAKER. 

formerly  advised";  and  snuff,  snuff-boxes,  and  the 
chewing  and  smoking  of  tobacco,  "  except  when  need- 
ful,'^ are  reprobated !  Tobacco,  in  the  early  days,  was 
more  universally  used  among  the  plain  Friends  than 
now.  William  Penn  is  said  to  have  enjoyed  his  pipe,  as 
did  many  another  worthy.  An  unlocated  minute  of 
!N^inth  month,  1691,  runs: 

It  being  discovered  that  the  common  excess  of  smoaking 
tobacco  is  inconsistent  with  our  Holy  Profession,  this  meeting 
adviseth  that  such  as  have  occation  to  make  use  of  it,  take  it 
privately,  neither  in  their  Labour  nor  employment  nor  by  the 
highway,  nor  alehouses  or  elsewhere,  too  publicly.* 

The  climax,  however,  is  reached,  when  we  are  told 
that  a  lowly  mind  would  rather  "  admire  the  wonderful 
hand  of  Providence  "  in  contemplating  the  necessary 
than  the  beautiful  in  nature,  and  the  eye  is  not  to  be 
indulged  in  "  great  superfluity  and  too  great  nicety  in 
gardens."  In  other  words,  turnips  and  cabbages  tend 
to  keep  the  mind  humble,  but  the  rose  and  the  lily  may 
prove  a  snare !  And  this,  in  the  land  of  gardening  and 
wall-fruit,  where  even  the  gooseberry  is  idealized !  It 
surely  is  a  wonder  that  all  artistic  sense  has  not  been 
crushed  out  of  the  sect  in  two  hundred  years  of  such 
arbitrary  dictation  to  the  consciences  of  people,  as  may 
be  found  through  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  among  the  Quakers,  when  they  were  a  prosper- 
ous, not  a  persecuted,  body.  But  the  elasticity  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  the  eternal  demand  for  some  outlet  to 
his  pent-up  artistic  enthusiasm,  is  being  manifested  to- 
day in  the  reaction  of  the  modern  young  Quaker  in 
favor  of  music  and  the  arts  generally. 

*  Manuscript  copy  of  old  English  Minutes,  in  possession  of  the  author, 
made  by  Henry  Hull,  of  New  York,  1850. 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  35 

The  plain  Quaker  administered  a  silent  reproof  to 
all  extravagance  wherever  he  appeared,  and  the  lam- 
poons and  broadsides  of  the  day  began  their  scurrilous 
attacks  almost  as  soon  as  church  and  state  combined  to 
persecute  him  in  earnest.  One  reason  that  we  have 
heard  so  little  of  the  anti-Quaker  literature  of  1655  to 
1700  is  because  of  its  indecency.  At  a  time  when  no- 
body was  nice  in  speech  or  manners,  it  can  hardly  be 
imagined  to  what  depths  the  popular  lampoon  sank;  so 
that  we  are  forced  to  leave  these  bits  of  Quaker  history 
where  we  find  them — buried  in  musty  collections  in  the 
public  libraries  of  England,  or  on  the  shelves  of  Ameri- 
can antiquarians.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  note 
their  existence,  since  they  show  how  the  world  regarded 
the  Quaker.  Those  quoted  are  among  the  most  decent. 
The  Quakers  were  derided  and  pursued  by  every  one. 
Their  simplicity  was  said  to  be  for  purposes  of  decep- 
tion; their  frugality  and  consequent  thrift  were  mocked 
at  as  penuriousness ;  their  marriages  without  the  priest 
were  declared  illegal,  and  their  children  were  scoffed  at 
as  illegitimate,  l^o  stone  was  left  unturned  to  render 
their  lives  a  burden.    This  was  a  popular  description: 

A  Quaker  is  an  everlasting  Argument;  For  like  Afrique,  he  is 
daily  teeming  with  some  new  Wonder;  he  that  can  describe  hini 
fully  may  boast  he  hath  squared  the  circle.  .  .  .  His  looks  and 
habit  cry  "  Pray  observe  me ",  and  his  whole  deportment  is 
starched  and  affected;  you  may  take  his  face  for  a  new-fashioned 
Sun-Dyal,  where  the  forced  wrinkles  represent  Hower  lines,  and 
his  Tunable  nose  the  gnomen.  If  he  wants  money,  he  need  only 
say  to  one  of  his  gang  "  The  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  borrow  of 
thee  40  shillings."  .  .  .  These  new  seers  ramble  about  to  estab- 
lish certain  little  Fopperies,  as  if  the  Salvation  of  the  World 
depended  on  the  Preaching  down  of  Points,  Cuffs,  Tyth-Pigs  and 
Pulpit-Hour-glasses;  he  is  a  kind  of  spiritual  Gypsy  that  de- 
scribes Grace  and  Piety  by  the  Lines  of  the  Physiognomy,  and 


26  THE   QUAKER. 

confines  Christianity  to  such  a  Complexion  or  habit,  being  con- 
fident that  cannot  be  a  wedding  garment  that  hath  any  trim- 
ming. .  .  .  But  'tis  no  small  attempt  to  encounter  a  Party  whose 
Impious  Penn  hath  presumed  to  duel  the  sacred  Trinity. 

"A  candle  of  himself  can't  stand  upright; — 
The  reason  is,  because  his  head  is  light."  * 

An  anti-Quaker  tract  of  1679  f  says:  "  The  Quakers 
cry  out  against  all  external  ornaments,  whilst  them- 
selves at  the  same  time  doat  most  wickedly  upon  a 
Quirp-cravat,  copied  from  a  Chitterling  original." 

The  Quaker  was  universally  known  as  "  Aminadab." 

Says  Misson: 

The  Quakers  are  great  Fanaticks;  there  seems  to  be  some- 
thing laudable  in  their  outward  Appearance — they  are  mild,  sim- 
ple in  all  respects,  sober,  modest,  peaceable — nay,  and  they  have 
the  reputation  of  being  honest;  and  they  often  are  so.  But 
you  must  have  a  Care  of  being  Bit  by  this  Appearance,  which 
very  often  is  only  outward. $ 

Such  universal  dislike  was  the  logical  result  of  their 
contrast  to  the  exaggerated  verbiage  and  ornate  dress 
of  the  time.  It  is  natural  to  expect  less  difference  be- 
tween the  early  Quakers  and  the  "  world's  people  "  in 
cut  and  style  of  dress  than  in  the  society  even  seventy- 
five  years  after  the  death  of  Fox,  for  the  very  good 

*"  Plus  Ultra,  Or  the  Second  Part  of  the  Character  of  a  Quaker, 
etc."    1672. 

t "  Work  for  a  Cooper.     Being  an  answer  to  a  Libel."     1679. 
Printed  by  J.  C.  for  S.  C.  Prince  of  Wales  Arms. 

X  "  Les  Quaeres  sent  de  grands  fanatiques.  II  parvit  en  eux  quelqne 
chose  delouable :  il  semble  qu'il  soient  doux,  simples  a  tous  ^gards,  sobres, 
modestes,  paisables :  ils  ont  meme  la  reputation  d'etre  fideles,  et  cela  est 
souvent  vrai.  Mais  il  ne  faut  pas  s'y  tromper,  car  il  y  a  souvent  aussi  bien 
du  fard  dans  tout  cet  exterieur." 

"  Memoires  et  Observations  faites  par  un  Voyageur  en  Angleterre, 
1698."    Quoted  by  Repton,  in  an  article  On  the  Development  of  Hats 
and   Bonnets,  from  the  Time  of  Henry  VIII.,  to  the  Present  Day. 
Published  in  Archseologia,  Vol.  XXIV.,  p.  174. 


A   8TVDT  IN   COSTUME.  27 

reason  that  when  persecution  was  following  them,  and 
they  were  being  scourged,  imprisoned  and  beaten  to 
death,  dress  was  a  subject  little  dwelt  upon.  Simplicity 
only  was  taught;  no  distinctiveness  other  than  that  in- 
duced by  its  practice.  A  few  years  later  matters  are 
very  different,*  and  the  cut  of  the  coat  has  become 
almost  an  essential  in  the  plan  of  salvation.  The  process 
of  adoption  of  a  Quaker  fashion  has  thus  been  described 
by  an  anonymous  English  writer  f  : 

A  novelty  in  dress  is  at  first  regarded  as  objectionable;  then 
it  is  admitted  and  not  considered  inconsistent;  and  lastly,  when 
the  rest  of  men  have  passed  from  it,  it  is  clung  to  with  aD  the 
devotion  which  our  society  entertains  for  its  peculiar  customs. 
Where  are  now  the  cocked  hats  that  were  at  first  a  vanity  and 
afterward  the  outward  visible  signs  of  Quakerism,  and  have  now 
.  .  .  disappeared?  Where  are  the  green  aprons  that  became  us 
as  a  people?  Where  is  the  testimony  against  trousers,  that,  it 
one  may  trust  tradition,  once  agitated  the  Society,  and  was  the 
theme  of  discourses  that  claimed  to  be  the  utterances  of  eternal 
wisdom  ? 

Our  author  concludes  by  saying  that  if  we  wear  to- 
day George  Fox's  coat,  we  cannot  retain  the  principle; 
if  we  retain  the  principle,  we  cannot  retain  the  coat. 

"  A  Pious  Gentleman  that  had  been  thirteen  years 
among  the  Separatists  to  make  observations,"  wrote 
warningly  in  a  Broadside  to  his  countrymen  in  1657: 

*  William  Penn,  Jr.,  to  James  Logan  : 

"  Worminghurst,  Aug.  18, 1702. 

"  My  dress  is  all  they  can  complain  of,  and  that  but  decently  genteel, 
without  extravagance ;  and  as  for  the  poking  iron  (sword),  I  never  had 
courage  enough  to  wear  one  by  my  side." 

Howard  M.  Jenkins,  "  The  Family  of  William  Penn,"  p.  109. 

Soon  after,  his  father,  the  Founder,  thus  writes  of  him  to  James 
Logan  in  Pennsylvania :  "  Pray  Friends  to  bear  all  they  can,  and  melt 
toward  him  at  least  civilly,  if  not  religiously."    Ibid.,  p.  111. 

f'Nehushtan;  A  Letter  addressed  to  the  Members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  on  their  Peculiarities  of  Dress  and  Language."    London,  1859. 


28  THE   QUAKER. 

The  Puritan  Spirit  was  the  spirit  of  Quakerism  in  the  first  de- 
gree,— which  thing  wise  men  know  full  well.  .  .  .  For  1  know, 
countrymen,  what  I  say,  that  three  parts  of  you  that  are  re- 
ligiously affected  at  this  day  are  possessed  with  that  humour 
that  will  make  you  Quakers  if  you  take  not  great  heed.* 

Banbury  was  a  great  stronghold  of  dissenters,  chiefly 
Presbyterians;  but  many  Quakers  were  yearly  tried  at 
the  Banbury  Assizes,  from  the  neighborhood  of  Oxford- 
shire. Castor,  in  "  The  Ordinary,"  an  old  play  by  Cart- 
wright,  1651,  says: 

I'll  build  a  cathedral  next  in  Banbury; 

Give  organs  to  each  parish  in  the  Kingdom, 

And  so  root  out  the  unmusical  sect.f 

The  cant  of  the  Presbyterians  laid  them  open  to  an 
equal  amount  of  ridicule  with  the  Quakers.  Little  Wit 
in  "  Bartholomew  Fair/'  is  made  to  say:  "  Our  mother 
is  a  most  elect  hypocrite,  and  has  maintained  us  all  this 
seven  year  like  gentlefolks." 

An  old  play,  "  The  City  Match,"  makes  Aurelia  thus 

remonstrate   against  the  preaching  tendencies  of  her 

Presbyterian  maid: 

"Oh,  Mr.  Banswright,  are  you  come?    My  woman 

Was  in  her  preaching  fit;  She  only  wanted 

A  table's  end." 

Banswright.     "  Why,  what's  the  matter  ?  " 

Aurelia.  "  Never 

Poor  lady  had  so  much  unbred  holiness 

About  her  person:  I  am  never  drest 

Without  a  sermon:  but  am  forced  to  prove 

The  lawfulness  of  curling-irons  before 

She'll  crisp  me  in  the  morning.     I  must  show 

Text  for  the  fashions  of  my  gowns.     She'll  ask 

Where  jewels  are  commanded?     Or  what  lady 

rth  primitive  times,  wore  ropes  of  pearl  or  rubies? 

*"  Anti-Quakerism,  or  The  Character  of  the  Quaker  Spirit."    Lon- 
don, 1659. 

tActll.,  So.  3. 


A    STUDT   IN   COSTUME.  29 

She  will  urge  councils  for  her  little  ruffs 

Call'd  in  Northamptonshire,  and  her  whole  Bervice 

Is  but  a  confutation  of  my  clothes.* 

The  long  grace  of  tlie  Presbyterian  was  another  of 
his  characteristics  often  ridiculed.     We  read  of 
One  that  cools  a  feast 

With  his  long  grace,  and  sooner  eats  a  caipon 
Than  blesses  it. 

or  this: 

Dost  thou  ever  think  to  bring  thy  ears  or  stomach  to  the 
patience  of  a  dry  grace  as  long  as  thy  tablecloth;  and  droned 
out  by  thy  son  here  till  all  the  meat  on  thy  board  has  forgot  it 
"was  that  daj-  in  the  kitchen,  or  to  brook  the  noise  made  in  a 
question  of  predestination  by  the  good  laborers  and  painful  eat- 
ers assembled  together,  put  to  them  by  the  matron,  your  spouse, 
who  moderates  with  a  cup  of  wine  ever  and  anon,  and  a  sen- 
tence out  of  Knox  between  ?  f 

The  Quakers  were  thus  derided  in  a  similar  way: 

Water  us  young  Shrubs,  with  the  Dew  of  Thy  blessing;  that 
we  may  grow  up  into  Tall  Oaks,  and  may  live  to  be  saw'd  out 
into  Deal  Boards,  to  wainscot  Thy  New  Jerusalem!  $ 

The  Puritans,  as  we  have  seen,  emphasized  plainness 

of  garb,  but  evaded  the  spirit  of  the  law  when  they 

wrought  embroidered  texts  upon  their  garments  with 

a  view  to  "  moralize  "  them.     The  old  play,  previously 

quoted,  has  the  following: 

Nay,  Sir,  she  is  a  Puritan  at  her  needle,  too: 

She  works  religious  petticoats;  for  flowers 

She'll  make  church  histories;  besides. 

My  smock-sleeves  have  such  holy  embroideries, 

And  are  so  learned,  that  I  fear  in  time 

All  my  apparel  will  be  quoted  by 

*  Jasper  Mayne,  "  The  City  Match. "    1639. 

t  "  Quarlous,"  in  "  Bartholomew  Fair,"  Act  I.,  Sc.  1. 

f'The  Quaker's  Grace."    Thomas    Brown,  "Works,  Serious  and 
Comical."    London,  1720. 


30  THE   QUAKER. 

Some  pure  instructor.     Yesterday  I  went 
To  see  a  lady  that  has  a  parrot;  my  woman, 
While  I  was  in  discourse,  converted  the  fowl; 
And  now  it  can  speak  but  Knox's  Works; — 
So  there's  a  parrot  lost.* 

The  Puritan  ladies  showed  great  ingenuity  in  the 
choice  and  execution  of  some  of  the  sacred  themes  that 
appeared  upon  the  garments  of  members  of  their  fami- 
lies. The  custom  lived  but  a  short  life,  because  of  its 
elaborate  and  expensive  development.  The  texts  and 
sacred  scenes  that  were  thus  worked  upon  clothing  in 
lace  and  embroidery,  remind  us  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury fashion  of  emblazoning  armorial  bearings  upon  the 
dress.  This  custom  became  general  in  France  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  V.  A  general  sumptuary  law  in 
the  time  of  the  Roses,  applied  to  all  classes,  forbade  cut- 
ting the  edges  of  sleeves  or  borders  of  gowns  into  the 
form  of  letters  or  other  devices;  and  the  tailor  who 
made  such  gown  was  subject  to  imprisonment. f  The 
extravagant  display  of  gold  lace  and  thread  grew  among 
the  Puritans  to  an  abuse  that  rapidly  put  an  end  to  this 
sort  of  "  moralizing,"  which  was  in  every  way  opposed 
to  the  professed  simplicity  of  Puritanism.  We  read  in 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher: 

Having  a  mistress,  sure  you  should  not  be 
Without  a  neat  historical  shirt?  J 

The  range  of  color  in  Quaker  clothing  seems  to  have 

nA     been  early  limited  to  the  browns  and  grays.     Thomas 

Ellwood  says  that  there  was  a  man  in  the  Monthly 

Meeting  at  Isaac  Pennington's  who  ''  had  his  eye  often 

*  Jasper  Mayne,  "  The  City  Match."    1639. 

tGeorgiana  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress."     Vol.  I.,  p.  137. 

X  "  Custom  of  the  Country."    Act  II.,  Sc.  1. 


/ 


A    STUDY   IX   COSTUME.  31 

upon  me,  for  I  was  a  young  Man  and  had  at  that  time 
a  black  Suit  on."  This  was,  of  course,  very  early  in  the 
period  of  Ellwood's  convincement.  The  women  had  a 
rather  wider  scope  at  first,  but  after  the  opening  of  the 
eighteenth  century  plain  colors  were  universal  among 
the  Quakers.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Oxford,  indeed, 
brown  was  under  a  ban  for  a  short  time.  "  Heretofore 
Friends  chose  to  wear  grey  clothing  out  of  a  dislike  to 
brown,  because  it  bore  the  name  of  a  certain  man  of 
Abingdon  that  had  stuck  close  upon  the  skirts  of 
Friends  thereabouts."  *  All  wearing  apparel  was 
treated  seriously,  and  was  bequeathed  to  relatives  and 
friends,  and  great  minuteness  was  shown  in  disposing 
of  it.  The  laborer  in  Queen  Anne's  day  wore  the  broad 
brim,  flat,  felt  hat  that  had  been  discarded  by  the  man 
of  fashion;  a  jerkin  or  short  coat,  knee  breeches  and 
heavy  yarn  stockings.  The  breeches  were  often  of 
leather,  adding  to  the  neutral  coloring  in  the  matter  of 
dress.  The  man  of  the  world,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
correspondingly  gay.  Even  Robespierre,  a  century 
later,  as  Carlyle  tells  us,  wore  a  sky  blue  coat,  a  white 
silk  waistcoat,  embroidered  with  silver,  black  silk 
breeches,  white  stockings,  and  gold  shoe  buckles.  The 
doublet  in  Charles  the  Second's  time  was  cut;  it  then 
became  longer  than  before,  and  was  adorned  with  the 
new  buttons,  just  introduced,  down  the  front.  There 
was  one  royal  attempt  at  reformation  in  dress,  but  it 
did  not  succeed. f 

*See  "Quaker's  Art  of  Courtship,"  by  the  author  of  "  Teague- 
Land  Jests — Calculated  for  the  Meridian  of  the  Bull  and  Mouth."  Abing- 
don had  long  been  famous  for  its  woolens,  even  then. 

fFor  the  new  costume  of  the  King,  see  Pepys'  Diary,  Vol.  VI., 
p.  29.  "A  long  cassock  close  to  the  body,  of  black  cloth  pinked  with 
white  silke  under  it,  and  a  coat  over  it,  and  the  legs  ruffled  with  black 
riband  like  a  pigeon's  leg."    Oct.  15,  1666. 


^ 


32  THE   QUAKER. 

By  the  end  of  this  reign  the  picturesque  old  doublet 
had  vanished  and  the  King's  coat  was  almost  of  the 
eighteenth  century  cut.  The  dragoons  of  this  and  the 
succeeding  reign  wore  their  brilliant  red  coats  in  the 
new  square  fashion,  with  ample  sleeves,  and  skirts 
turned  back  with  two  buttons.  This  was  the  coat  worn 
by  everybody  for  the  next  hundred  years,  Quakers  as 
well  as  others,  with  slight  modifications.  It  was  not 
until  the  end  of  the  century  that  coats  became  short 
and  grew  a  tail.  William  Penn's  skirts  were  full — and 
why  ?  Because  the  Stuart  reign  demanded  a  sword  im- 
der  the  coat — quite  as  a  mere  matter  of  decency;  and 
when  William  renounced  the  sword  it  did  not  strike 
him  as  at  all  necessary  to  curtail  his  ample  skirts  in 
anticipation  of  what,  otie  hundred  years  later,  came  to 
be  known  as  the  "  shad-belly  "  of  his  Pennsylvania  suc- 
cessor.   Yet  skirts  could  be  too  full,  even  then. 

20th.  of  9  mo.  1688.  It  is  concluded  that  the  Friends  appointed 
in  every  particular  meeting  shall  give  notice  publicly  in  the 
meeting  that  cross-pockets  before  men's  coats,  side  slopes,  broad 
liems  on  cravats,  and  overfull  skirted  coats  are  not  allowed  by 
Friends.* 

The  American  Friends  were  not  behind  their  Eng- 
lish cousins  in  this  matter  of  plainness,  and  earlier  even 
than  this  period  had  been  warning  their  constituency  of 
the  dangers  of  conformity  to  worldliness. 

In  1695  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  advised: 

That  all  that  profess  the  Truth  and  their  Children,  whether 
young  or  grown  up,  keep  to  Plainess  in  Apparel  as  becomes  the 
Truth  and  that  none  wear  long-lapped  Sleeves,  or  Coats  gathered 
at  the  Sides,  or  Superfluous  Buttons,  or  broad  Ribbons  about 
their  Hats,  or  long  curled  Periwiggs,  and  that  no  Women,  their 
Children  or  Servants  dress  their  heads  immodestly  or  wear  their 

«  MS.  of  Henry  Hull. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  33 

Garments  indecently  as  is  too  common;  nor  wear  long  Scarves; 
and  that  all  be  careful  about  making,  buying  or  wearing  (as 
much  as  they  can)  strip'd  or  flower'd  Stuffs,  or  other  useless  & 
superfluous  Things,  and  in  order  Thereunto,  that  all  Taylors  pro- 
fessing Truth  be  dealt  with  and  advised  Accordingly. 

Also  advised,  "  That  all  Superfluity  &  Excess  in 
Buildings  and  Furniture  be  avoided  for  time  to  come." 

Change  had  to  come  among  the  Quakers,  however, 
as  it  had  in  the  world.  By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  country  folk  were  f ollovdng  more  closely  in 
the  wake  of  the  town.  "  Fifty  years  ago,"  says  a  writer 
in  1761,  "  the  dress  of  people  in  distant  counties  was  no 
more  like  those  in  town  than  Turkish  or  Chinese.  But 
now  in  the  course  of  a  tour  you  will  not  meet  with  a 
high  crowned  hat,  or  a  pair  of  red  stockings."  ]\Iiss  Hill 
goes  on  to  say: 

The  high  crowned  hat  was  pretty  well  confined  to  the  Quak- 
ers, who  were  as  noticeable  for  the  neatness  as  for  the  old- 
fashioned  cut  of  their  garments.  Their  linen  was  always  fine 
and  clean,  and  the  quality  of  their  sober  colored  coats  and  gowns 
was  of  the  best.  The  most  rigid  discarded  all  additions  which 
could  in  any  be  described  as  ornaments,  even  to  the  buttons 
with  which  it  was  the  fashion  to  loop  up  the  hats.  The  men's 
hats  were  lower  and  wider  brimmed  than  the  women's,  which 
were  of  the  regular  steeple  shape.  Quakers,  of  course,  did  not 
wear  wigs.* 

Upon  the  matter  of  wigs  we  must  correct  Miss  Hill. 
Many  Quakers  wore  them,  including  William  Penn. 

In  August,  1787,  the  London  "  Chronicle  "  published 
a  satirical  paragraph  of  advice  to  a  man  of  fashion  rela- 
tive to  correct  costume  for  seaside  wear: 

For  the  morning,  provide  yourself  with  a  very  large  round 
hat.  This  will  preserve  your  face  from  the  sun  and  wind,  both 
of  which  are  very  prejudicial  to  the  complexion.     Let  your  hair 

*Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress,"    Vol.  II.,  p.  167. 


34  THE   QUAKER. 

be  well  filled  with  pomatum,  powder  and  bear's  grease,  and  tuck 
it  under  your  hat.  Have  an  enormous  chitterling  *  to  your 
shirt,  the  broader  the  better,  and  pull  it  up  to  look  as  like  the 
pouter  pigeon  as  you  possibly  can.  A  white  waistcoat  without 
skirts,  and  a  coat  with  a  collar  up  to  your  ears  will  do  for  an 
early  hour;  and  if  they  say  your  head  looks  like  that  of  John 
the  Baptist  on  a  charger,  tell  them  you  are  not  ashamed  to  look 
like  an  Apostle,  what  ever  they  are!  Your  first  appearance 
must  be  in  red  morocco  slippers  with  yellow  heels;  your  second 
in  shoes  with  the  Vandyke  tie;  your  third  in  Cordovan  boots, 
with  very  long  rowelled  spiu-s,  which  are  very  useful  to  walk 
in;  for  if  you  tear  a  lady's  apron,  it  gives  you  a  good  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  how  gracefully  you  can  ask  pardon.  Your 
fourth  dress  must  be  the  three  cornered  hat,  the  Paris  pump, 
and  the  Artois  buckle.f 

The  foregoing  is  valuable  as  sliomng  how  far  dress 
had  become  modern  in  1787. 

Eed  heels  were  worn  under  Louis  XIV.,  and  in  the 
time  of  Louis  XV.  these  were  made  of  wood  in  bright 
red  at  Court,  and  were  considered  a  great  mark  of  gen- 
tility.:}: Shoe  buckles  adorn  the  shoes  of  Louis  XIV.  in 
his  portrait  by  Kigaud  in  the  Louvre,  painted  in  1701; 
they  came  into  England  in  the  reign  of  William  III., 
and  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  enor- 
mous. Then  came  the  French  Revolution,  which 
affected  even  shoe  buckles,  and  they  were  supplanted  by 
ribbons  or  strings.  The  American  Quaker  sea-captain, 
John  M.  Whitall,  who  visited  England  in  1819,  relates 
that  he  wanted  to  go  to  meeting  in  Liverpool,  and  had 
a  struggle  in  mind  over  putting  leather  strings  in  his 
shoes,  instead  of  the  worldly  ribbons  he  would  have  had 
to  buy.  But  he  did  not  "gratify  pride"  to  that  extent  !§ 

*  A  ruffled  front,  falling  from  the  neck. 
fHill,  "  History  of  English  Dress."    Vol.  II.,  p.  128. 
%  Quicherat,  "  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  p.  562. 
I  Hannah  W,  Smith,  "  Diary  of  John  M.  Whitall,"  p.  107. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME. 


35 


Men  in  1786  carried  enormous  muffs.  These  had  a 
ribbon  attached  to  suspend  them  from  the  neck,  with  a 
bow  of  ribbon  tied  in  the  center.  The  beau  went  about 
encumbered  with  this,  a  sword  and  a  very  long  cane,  no 
doubt  with  the  "  very  jantee  "  air  that  the  old  books 
refer  to  as  the  sine  qua  non  of  the  modish  gentleman  of 
two  hundred  years  ago.  Muffs  had  come  to  America 
as  early  as  1638.  Dr.  Thomas  Prence,  in  Boston,  in 
1725,  lost  his  "black  bear-skin  muff";  and  several 
muffs  were  left  by  will  in  ]^ew  York  in  1783.*  An  old 
French  print  shows  a  "  Quaquer  d'  Amsterdam  "  in  the 
dress  of  William  Penn,  carrying  an  enormous  muff. 
Buttons  of  great  size  adorned  everything  possible  un- 
der Charles  the  Second,  and  paint  and  "  patches  "  pre- 
vailed. The  riding-coats  of  this  period  were  red,  but  in 
1786  we  find  them  green,  with  enor- 
mous mother-of-pearl  buttons.  It  was 
about  this  time  that  a  Frenchman  in 
Philadelphia  wrote  that  on  a  certain 
day  in  September  the  Quakers  in  that 
town  "  put  on  worsted  stockings  to  a 
man !  "  f 

In  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  worldly  coat  took  on  the 
cut-away  effect  seen  in  portraits  of 
Jeffersonian  times;  and  here  we  have 
the  origin  of  the  modern  "  plain  coat," 
which  is  in  reality  a  nondescript  affair, 
being,  as  to  its  collar,  a  survival  of 
the    coat     of    Penn,    who,    however. 


1818. 

(After  Martin.) 


*  Alice  Morse  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colonial  Days,"  p.  164. 
t  Elizabeth  Drinker,  Journal. 


36  THE   QUAKER. 

would  have  been  horrified  at  its  height;  and  as  to 
its  tail,  an  early  nineteenth  century  mode.  Some- 
thing in  its  shape  appealed  to  an  American  wag 
long  ago,  who,  struck  by  its  resemblance  to  the  fish 
familiar  to  our  shores,  dubbed  it  the  "  shad  !  " 
Had  it  been  possible,  the  Quakers  would  doubt- 
less still  have  clung  to  the  early  style  of  dress,  but 
their  bravest  efforts  were  of  no  avail.  The  coat  of  Wil- 
liam Penn  had  no  collar  whatever,  as  we  have  seen. 
There  came  a  time  when  the  worldly  coat  rose  straight 
up  to  a  line  behind  the  ears,  and  the  neckcloth  passed  in 
many  folds  about  the  choked  and  gasping  neck,  tilting 
the  chin,  for  air  and  ease,  to  a  point  which  carried  the 
nose  upward  and  gave  the  beaux  of  the  period  a  most 
supercilious  air.  The  familiar  portrait  of  Robespierre 
will  illustrate  this,  when  all  the  gentlemen  of  England 
were  aping  the  fashions  of  the  Directoire.  Presently, 
because  it  could  rise  no  higher,  the  worldly  coat-collar 
dropped  over  in  a  roll,  and  the  neck  was  released  from 
all  its  swaddling  bands  of  cambric.  The  Quaker  stopped 
at  this  point;  he  had  followed  the  fashion  a  quarter  of 
a  century  behind,  it  is  true,  but  still  followed,  his  coat 
collar  creeping  up  by  imperceptible  degrees  until  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At  the  present  time 
only  a  faithful  few  are  left  to  struggle  against  the  in- 
evitable roll,  and  these  few  are  in  America,  Friends  in 
the  mother  country  having  ceased  to  observe  an  obso- 
lete convention.  It  took  the  coat  collar  a  full  two  hun- 
dred years  to  rise  to  its  greatest  height  and  fall  in  the 
snare  of  a  worldly  roll — what  more  natural  than  that 
the  Quaker  collar  should  be  as  long  in  rolling  ? 

Seventy-five   years    ago    trousers    were    among    the 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  37 

things  viewed  by  conservative  Quakers  with,  very  grave 
suspicion.  The  evolution  of  the  "  pantalon,"  its  rise, 
name,  origin  and  effect  are  described  by  Quicherat.* 
The  garment  seems  to  have  come  from  Venice  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  Venetians  were  called  "  Pan- 
taloni  "  in  upper  Italy,  and  the  Italian  comedians  intro- 
duced the  garment  in  France,  in  fantasy  and  ballets. 
The  court  of  Louis  XIII.  danced  "  en  pantalon,"  as  did 
Richelieu  himself,  for  the  edification  of  Anne  of  Aus- 
tria. The  breeches  were  first  lengthened  to  the  calf, 
meeting  the  reversed  boot-top,  but  trousers  did  not  be- 
come popular  at  that  time  for  stout  wear,  because  the 
supreme  hour  had  not  yet  come  in  which  to  discard  the 
boot.  Without  attempting  to  dwell  on  the  history  of 
the  most  modern  garment  worn,  it  may  be  as  well  to  re- 
mind ourselves  that  trunk  hose  had  just  been  succeeded 
in  Fox's  time  by  breeches  to  the  knee,  adorned  with 
fringe  and  ribbon;  "  petticoat  breeches,"  frilled  and 
voluminous,  having  been  a  short-lived  mode.  What 
George  Fox  would  have  done  with  trunk  hose  it  would 
be  interesting  to  know !  At  their  height  a  law  was 
necessary  forbidding  a  man  to  carry  "  bags  stuffed  in 
his  sacks  " — a  mild  form  of  smuggling.  A  person  be- 
fore a  court  justice,  when  charged  by  the  judges  with 
being  habited  contrary  to  the  statute,  convinced  them 
that  the  stuffing  was  not  composed  of  any  prohibited 
article,  inasmuch  as  it  "  contained  merely  a  pair  of 
sheets,  two  tablecloths,  ten  napkins,  four  shirts,  a  brush, 
a  comb  and  a  nightcap  !  "  f 

By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  a 
growing  plainness  in  men's  dress,  and  Charles  James 

*  Quicherat,  "  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  p,  480. 

t "  The  Book  of  Costume.    By  a  Lady  of  Quality."    London,  1846. 


38  THE   QUAKER. 

Fox  and  his  friends  in  the  House  of  Commons  aided  its 
coming.  13  May,  1807,  one  Hamilton,  at  Balliol  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  wrote:  "  ISTo  boots  are  allowed  to  be 
worn  here,  or  trousers  or  pantaloons.  In  the  morning 
we  wear  white  stockings,  and  before  dinner,  regularly 
dress  in  silk  stockings,"  etc.  In  1808  the  "  trousered 
beau  "  was  present.  He  had  before  this  worn  silk  stock- 
ings, velvet  knee  breeches,  powdered  wig,  cocked  hat 
and  sword.*  All  through  the  eighteenth  century 
Quakers  wore  knee  breeches,  with  silk  or  yarn  stock- 
ings, according  to  their  circumstances  in  life,  and  low 
shoes  or  riding  boots.  It  is  interesting  to  learn  from 
Miss  Hill  that  knit  stockings  were  only  worn  some  fifty 
years  before  Fox  was  born.  They  had  before  been  of 
cloth  or  continuous  with  the  clothing,  as  in  the  days  of 
trunk  hose.  Pepys'  stockings  were  of  silk  and  wool. 
When  the  "  pantalon "  arrived  from  Italy,  the  first 
were  of  plain  light  cloth,  fitting  very  tightly.  By  1830 
thev  were  much  as  thev  have  since  remained,  the  "  cos- 
sack  "  shape  being  the  transition,  reminding  us  of  Dr. 
Holmes'  lines: 

They  have  a  certain  dignity  that  frequently  appals, 
Those  mediaeval  gentlemen,  in  semi-lunar  smalls. 

"  French  Pantaloons  "  are  advertised  in  a  Philadel- 
phia newspaper  of  1828. 

In  1798  Mrs.  Lloyd  wrote  to  her  son  Robert,  who 
had  gone  up  to  London  to  visit  his  friend  Charles  Lamb : 
1  was  grieved  to  hear  of  thy  appearing  in  those  fantastical 
trousers  in  London.  1  am  clear  svich  eccentricities  of  dress  would 
only  make  thee  laughed  at  by  the  world,  whilst  thy  sincere 
friends  would  be  deeply  hurt.  .  .  .  Neither  thy  mind  nor  person 
are  formed  for  eccentricities  of  dress  or  conduct.f 

*  HiU,  "  History  of  English  Dress."    Vol.  II.,  p.  233. 
t  E.  V.  Lucas,  "  Charles  Lamb  and  the  Lloyds,"  p.  97. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  39 

Robert  Lloyd,  in  1809,  wrote  to  his  wife: 

Pray  dispatch  me  from  the  Dog  Inn  at  seven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  2  pair  of  White  Silk  stockings.  1  must  go  smart  to 
the   Opera.     I   have   ordered  a  pair   of   dress-clothes  in  London. 

His  brother  Charles  inquires  of  him  about  the  same 

time: 

If  Hessian  boots  would  do  to  wear  with  pantaloons  or  small 
clothes  indiscriminately,  I  should  prefer  them,  but  not  -ftdthout.* 

The  Lloyds  were  of  Quaker  stock,  and  a  charmingly 
cultivated  family,  to  whom  the  friendship  of  Charles 
Lamb  was  sure  testimony  of  wit  and  culture.  They  did 
not  remain  in  the  circle  of  Quakers,  but  intermarried 
with  the  Wordsworths,  and  from  them  sprang  three 
Bishops  and  an  Archbishop  of  the  Established  Church ! 
The  English  Quakers,  however,  were  not  alone  in 
their  dread  of  the  new  fashion. 

When  Mr.  Jefferson  discarded  his  short  breeches,  silk  stockings 
and  low  shoes  with  silver  buckles,  and  concealed  his  well-formed 
legs  in  pantaloons,  the  Federalists  were  prone  to  regard  it  as 
the  trick  of  a  demagogue  to  secure  favor  with  the  mob.  A 
gentleman  in  trousers  and  short  hair!  But  what  better  could 
be  thought  or  expected  of  a  Democrat  and  an  atheist? 

In  1867,  folks  forty  years  old  could  remember  the  high  stock, 
cruel  shirt  collar,  ruthless  coat-collar,  the  prodigious  bonnet  and 
general  severity  of  costume  before  Channing,  Dickens,  Beecher, 
and  the  New  York  "  Tribune "  had  begun  to  emancipate  the 
American  understanding  from  its  tight  fitting  armor  of  opinion.f 

Mrs.  Earle  tells  us  that  the  colonists  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  landed,  some  in  doublet  and  hose,  and  some  in  coat 
and  breeches.  The  fact  is  interesting  to  the  student 
of  Quaker  dress,  for  it  is  another  evidence  that  there 
must  have  been  great  variety  of  costume  among  the 

*Ibid.,  p.  268. 

t  James  Parton,  "  The  Clothes  Mania." 


40  THE   QUAKER. 

different  classes  of  society  in  England  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  first  mention  of  trousers  in  this 
country  was  in  1776,  although  they  are  possibly  the 
"  tongs  ''  or  "  tushes  "  of  1638.  The  garment  was  at 
first  put  to  the  use  of  what  we  now  call  overalls.  The 
Pilgrim  men  wore  buff  breeches,  red  waistcoats,  and 
green  or  sad-colored  "  mandillions."  *  The  indignant 
Stubbes  was  also  moved  to  inveigh  against  "  man- 
dillions  "  in  a  passage  that  gives  a  perfect  picture  of  the 
coat  and  jerkins  of  the  late  sixteenth  and  early  seven- 
teenth centuries.    He  says: 

Their  coates  and  ierkis,  as  they  be  diuers  in  colours,  so  be 
they  diuers  in  fashions;  for  some  be  made  with  collors,  some 
without,  some  close  to  the  body,  some  loose,  which  they  cal 
mandilians,  couering  the  whole  body  down  to  the  thigh,  like 
bags  or  sacks,  that  were  drawne  ouer  them,  hiding  the  dimen- 
sions and  lineaments  of  the  body;  some  are  buttoned  down  the 
breast,  some  vnder  the  arme,  and  some  doAvn  the  backe,  some 
with  flaps  ouer  the  brest,  some  without ;  some  with  gi'eat  sleeues, 
some  with  small,  some  with  none  at  all;  some  pleated  and 
crested  behinde  and  curiously  gathered,  some  not ;  and  how  many 
dayes  (  1  might  saye  houres  or  minutes  of  houres  in  the  yeare) 
so  many  sortes  of  apparell  some  one  man  will  haue,  and  think- 
eth  it  good  prouision  in  fayre  weather  to  lay  vp  agaynst  a 
storme.t 

Doublet  and  hose  were  worn  more  in  the  Southern 
colonies  than  in  New  England,  and  were  richer  in  ma- 
terial. In  the  list  of  "  apparel  for  100  men,"  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  Mrs.  Earle  tells  us  that 
doublet  and  hose  may  be  found  in  1628,  but  they  had 
disappeared  in  Xew  England  by  1635.  The  doublet 
was  worn  in  England  also  by  women  in  1666,  to  the 

*  "  '  Mandillions,'  a  sort  of  doublet,  fastened  with  hooks  and  eyes, 
and  lined  with  cotton." — Alice  Morse  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colonial  Times," 
p.  218. 

t  Philip  Stubbes,  "  Anatomic  of  Abuses."    Ed.  1586,  p.  49. 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  41 

scandal  of  our  friend,  Mr.  Pepjs.  As  has  been  noted, 
George  Fox  wore  the  doublet  all  his  life.  What  was 
known  as  "  hair  camlet  "  seems  to  have  been  a  fashion- 
able material  among  the  plainer  Friends  for  coats,  while 
the  gayer,  or,  as  the  phrase  went,  "  the  finer  sort," 
wore  velvet  of  various  colors.  John  Smith,  of  Burling- 
ton, ^ew  Jersey,  going  to  "  pass  meeting  "  for  the  first 
time  previous  to  his  marriage  with  Hannah,  the  daugh- 
ter of  James  Logan,  of  Pennsylvania,  28th  of  Eighth 
month,  1748,  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  I  put  on  a  new  suit 
of  hair  camlet."  * 

The  dress  of  Jonathan  Kirkbride,  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  in  1739,  is  thus  described  by  a  descendant,  and  the 
description  may  be  taken  as  that  of  many  Quakers  of 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Its  cut  is  much  like 
that  of  Elias  Hicks. 

During  his  preaching  expeditions,  he  went  out  mounted  on  a 
pacing  horse,  a  pair  of  leather  saddle-bags,  containing  his  ward- 
robe, hung  behind  the  saddle,  a  silk  oil-cloth  cover  for  his  hat, 
and  an  oilcloth  cape  over  the  shoulders,  which  came  down  nearly 
to  the  saddle,  as  a  protection  from  storms.  Stout  corduroy 
overalls,  with  rows  of  buttons  down  the  outside  to  close  them 
on,  protected  the  breeches  and  stockings.  A  light  walking  stick 
did  double  duty,  as  a  cane  when  on  foot,  and  a  riding  whip  when 
mounted.  .  .  . 

He  wore  a  black  beaver  hat,  with  a  broad  brim  turned  up  at 
the  sides  so  as  to  form  a  point  in  front  and  rolled  up  behind;  a 
drab  coat,  with  broad  skirts  reaching  to  the  knee,  with  a  low 
standing  collar;  a  collarless  waistcoat,  bound  at  the  neck,  reach- 
ing beyond  the  hips,  with  broad  pockets,  and  pocket  flaps  over 
them;  a  white  cravat  served  for  a  collar;  breeches  with  an  open- 
ing a  few  inches  above  and  below  the  knee,  closed  with  a  row 
of  buttons  and  a  silver  buckle  at  the  bottom;  ample  silver 
buckles  to  fasten  the  shoes  with;  j5ne  yarn  stockings.  .  .  . 

In  winter,  shoes  gave  place  to  high  boots,  reaching  to  the 
knee  in  front,  and  cut  lower  behind  to  accommodate  the  limb. 

*  "  The  Burlington  Smiths,"  by  R.  Morris  Smith,  p.  153. 


42  THE   QUAKER. 

When  he  adopted  pantaloons,  with  great  reluctance, 
just  before  his  death,  at  an  advanced  age,  he  com- 
plained of  their  feeling  "  so  '  slawny/  flapping  about 
the  ankles !  "  * 

The  men  Friends  of  the  early  nineteenth  century 
wore  for  an  overcoat  a  long  collarless  garment  of  heavy 
cloth,  like  Gay's 

True  Witney  broadcloth,  with  its  shag  unshorn, 
which  was  usually  known  among  them  as  a  "  surtout," 
worldly  French  name  though  it  was ! 

That  garment  best  the  winter's  rage  defends 
Whose  ample  form  without  one  plait  depends; 
By  various  names,  in  various  countries  known 
Yet  held  in  all  the  true  surtout  alone. 
Be  thine  of  kersey  firm,  though  small  the  cost; 
Then  brave  unwet  the  rain,  unchill'd  the  frost.f 

Possibly  none  clung   to   knee   breeches   longer  than 

some  of  the  Quakers  in  America,  and  the  last  instance 

that  I  have  found  is  that  of  Kichard  Mott,  who  for 

forty  years  was  clerk  of  i^ew  York  Yearly  Meeting, 

and  who  died  in  1856.     His  daughter-in-law  writes,  in 

a  letter  preserved  among  old  family  papers: 

Mother  Mott  is  better  again.  She  is  making  [him]  a  pair  of 
pantaloons,  and  I  am  helping  her.  The  men  have  nearly  all  got 
to  wearing  them  now,  and  he  looks  and  feels  so  singular  in  his 
"  smalls,"  that  he  could  not  stand  it  any  longer,  but  bought 
some  beautiful  cloth  in  New  York  for  the  purpose.^ 

Sometimes  it  is  not  clear  what  particular  point  in  the 
costume  was  criticized,  as  at  Dartmouth,  Massachusetts, 
whose  Records  say: 

*Mahlon  S.  Kirkbride,  "Domestic  Portraiture  of  our  Ancestors 
Kirkbride ;  1650-1824." 

tGay,  "Trivia." 

J  Hannah  B.  Mott  to  her  mother,  Hannah  Smith,  from  Mamaroneck, 
N.  Y.,  8  mo.  23,  1828. 


L.^> 


f//r-;^/i''^^^  -'.  j;^^!*;?^^" 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  43 

27th.  1  mo.  1722;  The  visitors  give  account  that  they  have 
been  with  B.  S.  who  is  gone  from  ye  order  of  Friends  into  y«? 
fashion  of  ye  world  in  his  apparel,  who  signified  that  he  is  re- 
solved to  have  his  own  way. 

Benjamin,  we  learn,  was  disowned;  but  the  minutes 
are  silent  as  to  what  he  wore,  which  we  should  very 
much  like  to  know.  A  rather  more  serious  case  was 
that  of  C.  G.,  Jr.,  who  on  the  15th  of  Third  month, 
1756,  "  made  an  attempt  to  lay  his  intentions  of  mar- 
riage before  the  Preparative  Meeting  at  Acoaxet  &  was 
not  admitted  by  reason  of  his  wearing  fashionable 
clothes."  He  was  labored  with  by  the  Friends,  but  re- 
fused to  change  his  worldly  apparel,  married  "  out  of 
the  order,"  and  was  eventually  disowned. 

At  ]^antucket,  Massachusetts,  1801,  L H 

was  disowned  for  "  deviating  from  our  principles  in 
dress  and  address."  We  find  that  he  persisted  in  wear- 
ing buckles,  and  refused  to  use  "  thee  "  and  "  thou." 
In    1803,   at   the   same   meeting,   it  is   recorded   that 

H C "  had  deviated  in  dress  and  address  from 

the  plainness  of  our  Profession."  * 

The  inventory  of  the  household  goods  and  clothing 
of  Benjamin  Lay,  the  extraordinary  Anti-Slavery 
Quaker  of  Pennsylvania,  is  still  in  existence;  and  this 
curious  and  unique  account  is  sufficiently  instructive  to 
warrant  its  partial  reproduction.  It  will  be  noted  that 
the  list  includes  "  britches  "  and  trousers,  the  former 
of  leather  in  several  cases,f  as  well  as  a  "  skin  coat," 
and  jacket  of  the  same  leather  as  the  "  britches."  Vari- 
ous cloaks  and  riding  hoods,  and  seven  or  eight  other 

*  Worth,  "  Nantucket  Friends'  Meetings." 

t  William  Strypers  in  1685,  had  "two  pair  of  leather  breeches,  two 
leather  doublets,  handkerchiefs,  stockings,  and  a  new  hat."  This  consti- 
tuted the  outfit  of  the  Dutchman,  when  he  settled  in  Germantown,  Pa.,  at 
thatdat€.    "  Settlement  of  Germantown,"  by  Judge  Pennypacker,  p.  128. 


44  TEE   QUAKER. 

hoods  in  white  or  black,  had  evidently  belonged  to  his 
wife,  whose  death  took  place  some  years  before  that  of 
her  husband,  in  1742.  Sarah  Lay  was  also  a  little 
hunchback,  an  English  woman,  and  an  acknowledged 
minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  accompanied 
her  husband  when  he  first  came  to  America  in  1731. 
She  evidently  had  not  been  ensnared  by  so  worldly  a 
fashion  as  the  bonnet,  which  was  far  from  the  thoughts 
of  the  good  Quakeress  of  that  date.  The  few  items  that 
follow  are  selected  from  the  original  manuscript  with 
an  eye  to  the  style  of  garments  worn  by  the  Lays. 
Benjamin  Lay  died  Second  month  3d,  1759,  aged  82. 
The  sale  (or  "  vendue,"  as  the  document  reads)  oc- 
curred the  next  month,  and  fills  fifteen  folio  pages  of 
description.  £68  I7s.  Id.  were  realized.  The  list  in- 
cludes one  hundred  and  twenty-five  books,  mostly 
Friends',  a  copy  of  Plutarch's  Lives,  etc.  His  home  was 
near  Abington,  Pa.  The  last  rather  startling  item  in 
this  list  evidently  refers  to  a  piece  of  damaged  goods ! 

Inventory  of  Clothing 

OF 

Benjamin  Lat,  of  Pennstlvania, 
Died  2  mo.  Srd.  1759. 

s  d 

Coat  and  Jacket 2  6 

Buckrim  Coat  0  4 

2  Jackets  and  a  frok  1  2 

Plush  coat  9  7 

Pare  of  Leather  Britches   3  11 

Leather  Jacket 5  0 

4  1 

1  8 

Skin  Coat  0  3 

Pare  of  Shoos  6  6 

Coat  and  Hat  1  1 

Bag  and  pare  of  Cloth  boots 2  5 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


45 


s  d 

Leather   Jacot    10  3 

Coa£  1  6 

Pare  of  Britches 11  6 

«            "             4  0 

Trunk    2  0 

Cloke   1  6 

A  Hide  and  cloke  1  6 

2  flanell  petty  cote   3  3 

Clock   [cloak]   and  riding-hood    2  4 

Petecoat 3  1 

Crap  gound  [cr&pe  gown]   3  1 

Callemineo   gound    4  6 

Camblit             "          1  1 

Quilted  petecoat 10  1 

Winder  curtins   1  H 

Black  silk  scarf       1  18  0 

Ditto 1  17  1 

Black  silk  scarf  0  18  0 

Black  hood H  0 

Whit  silk       "     3  9 

A.     "      "         "     5  0 

Ditto 4  1 

A  silk  handkerchief   7  0 

Ditto    2  9 

A  silk  handkerchief    7  0 

pare  of  silk  gloves   5  0 

"       "     gloves   1  10 

A  whit  hood   2  3 

"  linen    "     1  4 

Ditto 2  0 

2  muslin  handkerchiefs       4 

A  whit  hood   3 

3  "       aprons  5 

Pocket  handkerchief  5 

6  caps   4  9 

"       "            4  8 

10     "          5  3 

3  cambric  handkerchiefs   4  4 

8  pinners    7  0 

A  checkard  apron   2  3 


46  TEE   QUAKER, 

8        d 

20  neck  cloths    4        3 

sundry  mittens 2        3 

a  green  apron  2        0 

Ditto 2        4 

a  pare  of  pockets 1        0 

3  pare  worsted  stocks 4        7 

1  dimity  wastecoat  &  2  shifts 18        0 

12  diaper  napkins  &  2  table-cloths      3       10        0 
Besides  shirts,  stockings,  gloves,  "  17   shifts,"   12  table-cloths, 

towels,  napkins,  sheets,  pillow-cases,  "  curtins,"     "a  hammack," 

quilts,  "  vallians,"  etc.,  "  to  numerous  to  mention." 

Also,  a  variety  of  dry-goods  in  the  piece,  40  lbs.  whalebone, 

thimbles,  needles,  buttons,   12,000  pins,  stay -tape,  1  doz.  flints; 

and  finally,  "8  yards  of  damnified  ozonbriggs!  "* 

The  dress  of  Mcholas  Biddle  is  described  by  tbe 
Frenchman,  M.  de  Bacourt,  so  late  as  1840,  as  "  a  blue 
coat  with  brass  buttons,  yellow  nankeen  pantaloons, 
canary  colored  gloves,  and  a  glossy  beaver."  The  same 
M.  de  Bacourt  is  said  to  have  made  the  mot,  that  the 
"  world  is  ruled  by  three  boxes — the  ballot-box,  the 
cartridge-box,  and  the  band-box !  " 

The  only  title  of  honor  recognized  by  Friends  seems 
to  have  been  that  of  Doctor.  The  ills  of  the  flesh  were 
so  heavy  in  the  days  before  the  use  of  modern  methods 
of  healing,  that  the  physician  who  could  in  any  way 
alleviate  suffering  was  made  welcome  for  his  kindly 
services,  and  his  title  was  generally  given  him.  Eng- 
land was  far  behind  Holland  in  the  healing  art,  and 
Friends  went  to  the  Netherlands,  where  Leyden  was 
famous  in  science  and  learning,  to  study  medicine.  A 
flourishing  body  of  Quakers  already  existed  in  Amster- 
dam.      Anatomy   and    physiology   were    taught   with 

*Ozonbrigg — One  of  the  many  materials  with  Eastern  or  other 
curious  names,  so  much  in  use  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
Spelt  also  Oznaburg,  Ozenbridge,  etc. ;  originally  made  at  Osnabriick, 
Hanover.    Linen.  (Alice  Morse  Earle.) 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  47 

Dutch  thoroughness,  and  Rembrandt's  great  painting, 
"  The  Anatomist,"  was  a  correct  representation  of  the 
scientific  training  which  that  nation  was  giving  to  the 
whole  world.  The  Doctor,  in  the  seventeenth  cen- «' 
tury,  was  a  great  social  personage.  His  power  and  his : 
presence  were  only  second  to  that  of  a  great  church, 
dignitary,  ^o  one  ever  questioned  his  authority  on* 
any  point,  and  to  his  utterances  the  people  paid  great 
heed.  He  had  but  just  stepped  over  that  mysterious 
borderland  lying  between  mystery  and  science,  and  to 
the  unlettered  of  his  day,  his  knowledge  was  hardly  to 
be  attained  without  supernatural  means.  Both  on  the 
continent  and  in  England  he  wore  a  distinctive  dress. 
The  black  cloth  garb  was  quite  clerical  in  effect,  and 
the  great  bush  wig  was  invariably  accompanied  by  a 
gold-headed  cane.  Portraits  of  Doctors  Fothergill  and 
Lettsom,  both  very  eminent  men,  and  both  Quakers, 
show  them  in  clothing  of  rather  lighter  hue,  but  with 
the  adjuncts  of  cocked  hat,  wig  and  cane.  The  Quaker 
profession  in  England  maintained  the  courtesy  and  the 
garb  without,  however,  any  of  its  exaggerations;  and 
respect  for  their  calling  led  them  to  wear  the  wig 
throughout  the  period  of  its  history — a  motive  which 
did  them  honor,  although,  at  this  date,  we  may  not  be 
able  to  recognize  any  added  sentiment  of  beauty  or 
dignity  in  that  adornment. 

In  America,  democratic  as  it  was — and  yet  most  con- 
servative, so  far  as  adhering  to  a  style  of  dress  is  con- 
cerned— the  wig  was  not  considered  de  rigueur  among 
Friends,  where  its  adoption,  with  Doctors,  as  with 
other  mortals,  was  entirely  a  matter  of  taste.  We  can 
therefore  the  better  understand  Ann  Warder's  aston- 


48  TEE    QUAKER. 

ishment  at  the  appearance  of  a  Doctor  in  Philadelphia, 
wearing  none  of  the  insignia  of  his  profession.  She 
writes,  in  1786,  "  We  dined  at  Nicholas  Wain's  in  com- 
pany with  there  sisters  and  two  public  Friends."  (A 
usual  term  for  minister  among  the  Quakers.)  "  One, 
I  understood,  was  a  country  Physician,  but  how  would 
he  look  by  the  side  of  ours,  instead  of  a  great  Bush 
Wig,  and  everything  answerable,  his  Dress  was  as  hum- 
ble as  possible."  At  meeting,  the  next  day:  "  The 
Doctor  I  mentioned  yesterday  appeared  beautifully  " ; 
that  is,  he  preached  or  prayed  acceptably  to  his  audi- 
ence. The  Doctor  of  Divinity  also  shared  in  a  pro- 
fessional costume  as  he  does  now,  and  this  lends  mean- 
ing to  the  note  of  Thomas  Story,  who  in  171 7,  at  Rad- 
nor, Pennsylvania,  in  describing  meetings  he  had  held 
at  that  place,  says:  "  We  heard  also  of  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  in  one  of  our  meetings,  disguised  in  a  blue 
coat;  but  not  of  any  objections  made."  * 

The  new  thing,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  viewed 
askance  by  Quakerism,  which,  in  America,  at  least,  was 
never  more  fearful  of  innovations  than  during  the 
period  immediately  succeeding  the  departure  of  the 
Quakers  from  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  in  1756. 
They  withdrew  from  active  life,  and  paid  more  atten- 
tion to  the  limitations  of  dress  and  custom  among  their 
membership,  and  this  grew  upon  them  with  the  passing 
years.  Richard  Talbot,  of  Ohio,  was  visited  by  Friends 
of  his  Yearly  Meeting  for  putting  on  suspenders ;  and 
umbrellas  caused  many  anxious  moments  when  they 
were  introduced  among  the  Friends.  The  first  um- 
brella carried  in  Edinburgh  was  borne  by  Alexander 

*  Thomas  story,  Journal,  p.  573.     (Folio.) 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  49 

Wood,  a  surgeon,  in  1782.  It  was  a  huge  gingham  ap- 
paratus, clumsy  and  awkward  to  a  degree.  It  was  also  a 
surgeon  who  the  following  year  carried  a  yellow  glazed 
linen  umbrella  down  Glasgow  streets,  justly  proud  of 
the  new  importation  from  Paris.  Before  this,  huge 
green  paper  fans  were  employed  as  a  protection  from 
the  sun,  while  the  rainy-day  devices  were  many.  Jonas 
Hanway,  however,  although  he  has  the  credit  of  carry- 
ing the  first  umbrella  in  London,  in  1Y56,  must  now 
give  way  to  a  Philadelphia  Quaker,  for  on  February 
20,  1738,  an  "umberella"  was  imported  to  Philadelphia 
in  the  good  ship  "  Constantino,"  as  shown  by  the  in- 
voice, for  the  "  proper  account  and  risque  "  of  Edward 
Shippen,  who,  indeed,  for  aught  we  know,  may  have 
worn  out  that  nine  shilling  umbrella  long  before  Jonas 
Hanway  carried  his.*  N^athaniel  ISTewlin  carried  the 
first  umbrella  to  Chester  (Pa.)  Meeting,  and  to  this 
evidence  of  a  worldly  spirit  Friends  took  great  excep- 
tion, and  made  remonstrance,  although  Nathaniel  was 
a  person  of  weight,  and  had  sat  six  times  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Assembly. 

As  for  the  women,  they  had  long  been  used  to  fol- 
lowing the  advice  of  Gay: 

Good  housewives  all  the  winter's  rage  despise. 
Defended  by  the  riding  hood's  disguise; 

but  it  was  considered  a  very  feminine  and  unmanly  per- 
formance at  first  to  be  seen  carrying  an  umbrella,  and 
only  women  might 

Underneath  the  umbrella's  oily  shed, 
Safe  through  the  wet  on  clinking  patten  tread. 
Let  Persian  dames  the  umbrella's  ribs  display, 
To  guard  their  beauties  from  the  sunny  ray; 

*"  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography."    Jan.,  1901. 


50  THE   QUAKER. 

Or  sweating  slaves  support  the  shady  load, 
When  Eastern  monarchs  show  their  state  abroad. 
Britain  in  winter  only  knows  its  aid, 
To  guard  from  chilling  showers  the  walking  maid.* 

The  grandmother  of  the  Philadelphia  lady  who 
vouches  for  the  following  had  a  no  less  thrilling  ex- 
perience in  the  attempt  to  be  in  the  mode  than  had 
Nathaniel  Xewlin.  During  her  girlhood  her  father 
brought  her  an  umbrella.  She  carried  the  novel 
gift  with  great  pleasure  and  delight,  but  so  new  and 
unknown  was  the  article  that  the  meeting  to  which  she 
belonged  became  alarmed  and  the  Overseers  dealt  with 
the  worldly-minded  father.  During  the  controversy 
one  woman  Friend  said  to  the  young  girl,  "  Miriam, 
would  thee  want  that  held  over  thee  when  thee  was 
a-dyin'  ? "  That  of  course  settled  the  matter,  and  the 
offending  umbrella  was  relegated  to  seclusion.  Many 
present  necessities  of  the  toilet  were  unknown  luxuries 
in  the  early  days.  We  are  told  that  in  1650  Sir  Ralph 
Verney  sent  to  a  friend  a  present  of  "  teeth-brushes  and 
boxes,"  which  were  new-fangled  Parisian  articles,  called 
by  him,  "  inconsiderable  toyes."  f 

There  are  few  more  sensitive  souls  than  that  of  sweet 
and  tender  John  Woolman,  to  read  whom  in  these  sor- 
did days  is  like  a  breath  from  the  Elysian  Fields.  We 
could  not  all  find  it  possible,  or  even  our  duty,  to  Kve 
so  near  his  ideal;  for  to  few  human  beings  is  it  given 
to  so  completely  sever  their  connection  with  the  world, 
and  the  things  of  the  world.  ^Nevertheless,  there  is  no 
more  salutary  reading  for  these  strenuous  days  than 
the   small   but   precious   contribution   made   by   John 

*"  Trivia." 

tGeorgiana  Hill,  "  Women  in  English  Life."    Vol.  I.,  p.  158. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  51 

Woolman  to  the  body  of  English  literature.  He  is  here 
named  because  of  the  travail  of  soul  that  he  endured 
over  his  clothes;  for  to  him,  poor  dear,  the  dye  in  his 
garments  was  as  great  an  object  of  uneasiness  of  spirit 
as  the  lack  of  it  would  have  been  to  William  Penn !  He 
tells  us  in  his  Journal,  that  amazing  record  of  a  soul's 
experience,  that  "  the  thought  of  wearing  hats  and  gar- 
ments dyed  with  a  dye  hurtful  to  them,  had  made  a  last- 
ing impression  on  me."  This  was  in  the  year  1760, 
when  the  Quaker  tailor  was  just  forty  years  old,  and  his 
calling  had  led  him  to  see  the  vanities  of  men  rather 
intimatelv. 

This,  and  the  wearing  more  clothes  in  summer  than  are  need- 
ful, grew  weary  to  me,  believing  them  to  be  customs  which  have 
not  their  foundation  in  pure  wisdom.  The  apprehension  of  being 
singular  from  my  beloved  friends  was  a  strait  upon  me ;  and  thus 
I  continued  in  the  use  of  some  things  contrary  to  my  judgment. 

But  our  Journalist  fell  ill  and  in  the  depths  he  re- 
cords his  mind  brought  into  a  state  of  perfect  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  God,  as  he  interpreted  it.  For  nine 
months  he  continued  to  wear  out  the  garments  he  had 
already  in  use,  and  then  his  first  move  in  the  direction 
of  the  new  reform  was  to  buy  an  undyed  hat. 

I  thought  of  getting  a  hat  the  natural  color  of  the  fur,  but 
the  apprehension  of  being  looked  upon  as  one  affecting  singular- 
ity felt  uneasy  to  me.  Here  I  had  occasion  to  consider  that 
things,  though  smaU  in  themselves,  being  clearly  enjoined  by  Di- 
vine authority,  become  great  things  to  us;  and  I  trusted  that  the 
Lord  would  support  me  in  the  trials  that  might  attend  singiilar- 
ity,  so  long  as  singularity  was  only  for  His  sake.  On  this  ac- 
count I  was  under  close  exercise  of  mind  in  the  time  of  our  Gen- 
eral Spring  Meeting,  1762,  greatly  desiring  to  be  rightly  directed; 
when,  being  deeply  bowed  in  spirit  before  the  Lord,  I  was  made 
willing  to  submit  to  what  I  apprehended  was  required  of  me, 
and  when  I  returned  home  got  a  hat  the  natural  color  of  the  fur. 


52  THE   QUAKER. 

No  portrait,  alas,  exists  of  John  Woolman,  but  this 

lets  us  know  that  his  hat  was  a  beaver  of  the  natural 

color.     Doubtless  he  would  never  have  consented  to 

have  his  "  counterfeit  presentment  "  taken.     He  had 

some  mental  stress  because  of  this  step,  for  he  adds  that 

after  this. 

In  attending  meetings,  this  singularity  was  a  trial  to  me,  and 
more  especially  at  this  time,  as  white  hats  were  used  by  some 
who  were  fond  of  following  the  changeable  modes  of  dress,  and 
as  some  Friends  who  knew  not  from  what  motives  I  wore  it 
grew  shy  of  me,  I  felt  my  way  for  a  time  shut  up  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  ministry.  .  .  .  My  heart  was  often  tender  in  meetings, 
and  I  felt  an  inward  consolation  which  to  me  was  very  precious 
under  these  difficulties.  Some  Friends  were  afraid  that  my  wear- 
ing such  a  hat  savored  of  an  affected  singularity;  those  who 
spoke  with  me  in  a  friendly  way,  I  generally  informed,  in  a  few 
words,  that  I  believed  my  wearing  it  was  not  in  my  own  will. 
I  had  at  times  been  sensible  that  a  superficial  friendship  had  been 
dangerous  to  me;  and  many  Friends  being  now  uneasy  with  me, 
I  had  an  inclination  to  acquaint  some  with  the  manner  of  my 
being  led  into  these  things;  yet  upon  a  deeper  thought  I  was 
for  a  time  most  easy  to  omit  it,  believing  the  present  dispensa- 
tion was  profitable,  and  trusting  that  if  I  kept  my  place,  the 
Lord  in  His  own  time  would  open  the  hearts  of  Friends  toward 
me.  I  have  since  had  cause  to  admire  His  goodness  and  loving 
kindness  in  leading  about  and  instructing  me,  and  in  opening  and 
enlarging  my  heart  in  some  of  our  meetings. 

Surely  nothing  could  be  more  beautiful  than  the 
spirit  here  shown,  although  a  practical  mind  might  find 
some  criticisms  possible.  But  if  all  the  Friends  to-day 
bought  their  hats  and  bonnets  in  the  same  spirit,  it 
would  surely  not  be  long  before  the  Society  of  Friends 
again  became  a  power  in  the  world.  Shall  any  one  here- 
after say  that  there  is  nothing  of  philosophy  in  clothes  ? 
The  Quaker  custom  of  self-examination  and  comparison 
with  the  ideal  life,  and  a  disparagement  of  native  gifts 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  53 

and  talent,  made  the  humility  in  which  the  Quaker  was 
^'  clothed  as  with  a  garment,"  and  which  he  seldom 
ceased  in  the  last  century  to  recommend,  take  on  some- 
times a  melancholy  hue. 

Aggressive  as  the  Quaker  garb  would  seem  to  have 
been  upon  a  superficial  glance  at  the  situation,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  sect  made  no  effort  to  force  their  pecu- 
liarities upon  the  public,  nor  have  they  ever  done  so. 
They  and  their  hats  became  conspicuous  by  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  of  course  were  at  once  in  the  public 
eye.  They  did  not  preach  Quaker,  but  only  plain 
dressing;  and  they  would  at  first  have  denied  their  pub- 
lic position  on  the  subject  had  they  been  given  the 
choice.  The  Quakers  have  always  had  the  good  sense 
to  hold  quite  in  the  background  their  views  on  dress, 
when  they  have  gone  out  as  missionaries  to  what  we  are 
pleased  to  call  "  the  heathen."  And  herein  they  have 
been  wise  in  their  generation.  How  much  good  would 
they  have  accomplished,  for  instance,  by  insisting  that 
a  Hindu  woman  should  at  once  put  on  the  plain  bon- 
net ?  It  is  quite  as  reasonable  to  expect  the  Quakers  to 
adopt  the  Chinese  dress,  as,  indeed,  more  than  one  has 
done.  There  is  a  beauty  of  line  in  certain  forms  that 
Quaker  dress  has  taken,  that  is  pleasing  to  the  artist, 
and  possesses  still  more  attraction  for  the  moralist  or 
historian.  It  is  hardly  perceptible  to  him  who  is  iin- 
familiar  with  Quaker  history.  The  modern  idea  of 
beauty  in  dress  is  no  longer  one  of  personal  adornment, 
but  there  is  a  moral  quality  that  enters  into  it,  which  is 
quite  the  product  of  the  last  three  hundred  years.  The 
merely  decorative  element  is  one  that  has  always  ap- 
pealed to  the  savage  on  the  plains,  or  in  Central  Africa. 


54  THE   QUAKER. 

The  purely  aesthetic  side  of  dress  was  present  to  the 
Greek  as  never  before  or  since;  and  to  the  Knight  in 
armor  came  a  sense  of  protection  together  with  the  ap- 
peal to  his  prowess.  But  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  we 
have  had  a  conscience  in  our  clothes;  and  what  is  beau- 
tiful must  now  stimulate  our  feeling  for  the  best  and 
truest.  We  do  not  object  to  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Quaker  garb  as  did  the  public  in  Oliver  Cromwell's  day, 
to  whom  it  was  offensive  because  an  implied  reproach. 
But  we  see  in  it  the  memory  of  martyr  and  saint  and 
hero,  and  we  suffer  it,  because  to  us  it  stands  as  a  sym- 
bol of  some  of  the  qualities  for  which  the  human  soul 
has  greatest  need.  A  feeling  of  sadness  creeps  over  our 
mind  that  its  history  has  become  altogether  that  of  the 
past. 


Sunshade.    1760. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE    SPIRIT    OF    THE    HAT 


Any  Cappe,  whate'er  it  be, 

Is  still  the  signe  of  some  Degre. 

"  Ballad  of  tU  Capt,"  1656. 

Ne  dit-on  pas  qu'il  n6  f»ut  pas  penser  avoir  toutes  ses 
uses  en  ce  monde  ? 

Loii  de  la  Galanterie. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  HAT. 

'WO  hats  in  the  history  of  the  church 
stand  forth  conspicuous  from  the 
mass.  In  shape  they  are  not  unlike. 
The  oldest  has  a  round  crown,  and 
plain  wide  brim,  and  is  unadorned 
save  for  cord  and  tassel.  Gorgeous 
in  brilliant  red,  it  typifies  churchly 
prestige  and  power;  and  the  car- 
dinal who  wears  it  is  a  functionary  of  what  has  been 
the  most  powerful  church  organization  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  To  but  one  other  hat  has  ever  attached  so 
much  religious  significance.  That  is  the  drab  broad- 
brim of  the  early  Quaker.  How  many  controversies 
have  been  waged,  how  many  hard  words  flung  over 
the  apparently  simple  matter  of  the  hat!  On  this 
futile  subject  we  have  had  countless  tracts,  pamphlets 
and  sermons;  while  lawsuits,  loss  of  property  and  loss 
of  life  are  all  on  record.  The  spiritual  welfare  of  an 
entire  sect  has  at  one  time  seemed  to  depend  on  the 
manner  of  wearing  the  covering  for  the  head.  The 
whole  "  testimony  "  of  the  early  Quaker  against  the 
frivolities  of  his  day  was  concentrated  in  his  hat. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  period  was  but 
just  past  when  this  had  been  a  part  of  the  costume,  no 
more  to  be  removed  when  entering  the  house  or  seated 
at  table  than  the  shoes  or  doublet.    Hats  were  worn  in 


58  TEE   QUAKER. 

church,  and  the  clergy  preached  in  them.  The  elegant 
courtiers  at  the  French  and  English  courts  were  now 
beginning  to  greet  the  ladies  and  their  superiors  in  rank 
with  the  new  sweeping  bow — "  making  a  leg,"  as  it  was 
termed — with  consummate  grace  and  art,  the  hat's 
long,  graceful  feather  sweeping  the  floor  in  the  action. 
This  is  not  a  Parisian  fashion  book,  nor  yet  a  history 
of  worldly  costume;  nevertheless,  we  must  seek  the 
origin  of  the  Quaker  hat  among  the  abodes  of  fashion. 
This  part  of  the  costume  has  a  very  interesting  history, 
and  might  in  itself  fill  a  good-sized  volume.  The  felt 
hat  with  which  we  are  chiefly  concerned  goes  back  to 
the  time  of  the  early  Greeks.  There  is  a  felt  hat  on  a 
statue  of  Endymion  in  the  British  Museum.  The  Nor- 
mans at  the  conquest  wore  hats  of  the  same  durable 
material,  and  we  love  the  "  flaundrish  bever  hat  "  of  the 
Merchant,  in  the  Canterbury  Tales.  Among  the 
peasantry  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  old  English 
and  Scotch  "  bonnets  "  were  worn,  usually  of  cloth  or 
other  heavy  stuff,  low  and  broad  in  shape;  while  at  all 
times  in  the  early  history  of  England  some  variety  of 
the  hood  was  to  be  found  among  both  sexes  alike. 
Chaucer's  Reve  was  rewarded  by  his  master  with 
"  thanks,  a  cote  and  hood  ";  and  the  Monk — 
"  For  to  fasten  his  hood  under  his  chinne, 
He  had  of  gold  ywrought,  a  curious  pinne." 

At  the  coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn,  the  Aldermen 
"  toke  their  hoddes  from  their  necks,  and  cast  them 
about  their  shoulders."  *  The  old  time-honored  bonnet 
had  been  superseded  by  the  hat  in  the  early  sixteenth 
century;  and  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL,  we  find  cer- 
tain old  prints  that  give  us  the  jaunty  hat  always  asso- 
*  Archseologia,  Vol.  XXIV.,  p.  172. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


59 


ciated  with  that  monarch,  showing  the  hood  still  worn 
underneath  it,  or  thrown  over  the  shoulder.  Felt  hats 
had  been  found  most  durable  for  soldiers'  wear,  and 
their  lasting  qualities  made  them  popular  with  the  com- 
mon people.  Ashton  tells  us  that  a  new-fashioned 
beaver  hat,  sometimes  called  felt  and  made  by  the 
Dutch,  came  in  about  1559. 
They  were  afterward  made  in 
England  by  the  Dutch  refu- 
gees at  Wandsworth,  and  were 
a  luxury  only  to  be  afforded  by 
fine  gentlemen.  A  good  hat 
was  very  expensive,  and  im- 
portant enough  to  be  left 
among  bequests  in  a  will. 
They  were  borrowed  and  hired 
for  many  years,  and  even  down 
to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  we 
find  the  rent  of  a  subscription 
hat  to  be  two  pounds  six  shil- 
lings per  annum!  There  must  have  been  great  peace 
and  harmony  in  the  wearing  of  that  hat,  one  would 
think !  In  the  time  of  Elizabeth  beaver  hats  were  an  ex- 
travagant luxury,  and  "  were  fetched  from  beyond  the 
seas,  where  a  great  sort  of  other  varieties  do  come  be- 
side."   The  hats  were  small  at  first,  and  one  old  writer 

says :  "  So  propre  eappes, 

So  lytle  hattes, 

And  so  false  hartes 

Saw  y  never."  * 

The  "  hattes  "  soon  grew  as  broad  as  that  of  the  Wife 
of  Bath,  and  were  known  as  "  castors."    The  print  of  a 


Douglas,  Earl  of  Morton. 
1553. 
(After  Repton.) 


*  "  Maner  of  the  World  Now-a-Days." 


60  THE   QUAKER. 

fashionable  man  of  1652  has  the  hat-brim  extending 
horizontally,  with  a  long  drooping  feather,  threatening 

to  fall.  This  was  the  hat  of 
Charles  the  First,  which  has 
since  come  down  to  us  as 
the  Quaker  broad-brim.  The 
Hat  of  Charles  I.  steeple  -  crowned       hat      of 

(After  Martin.)  JamCS       I.       Still       CxistS       in 

beaver  in  Wales,  worn  by  both  men  and  women,  the 
latter  placing  it  over  the  hood  or  cap  in  the  manner  of 
the  first  Quaker  women.  Xothing  has  ever  destroyed 
the  hold  of  the  felt  hat  upon  the  affections  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation. 

"  The  Turk  in  linen  wraps  his  head, 
The  Persian  his  in  lawn  too; 
The  Euss  with  sables  furs  his  cap. 
And  change  will  not  be  drawn  to; 
The  Spaniard's  constant  to  his  block, 

The  French  inconstant  ever; 
But  of  all  felts  that  can  be  felt. 
Give  me  your  English  beaver."  * 

Old  Philip  Stubbes,  in  1585,  wrote  of 

HATS  OF  SUNDRIE  FATIONS.f 

Sometymes  they  vse  them  sharpe  on  the  croune,  pea,rking  vp 
like  the  spere,  or  shaft  of  a  steeple,  standyng  a  quarter  of  a 
yarde  aboue  the  crowne  of  their  heades,  some  more,  some  iesse, 
as  please  the  phantasies  of  their  inconstant  mindes.  Other- 
some  be  flat  and  broad  on  the  crowne,  like  the  battlemetes  of  a 
house.  An  other  sorte  haue  rounde  crownes,  sometymes  with 
one  kinde  of  band,  sometymes  with  another,  now  blacke,  now 
white,  nowe  russed,  now  redde,  now  grene,  nowe  yellowe,  now 
this,  now  that,  neuer  content  with  one  colour  or  fashion  two 
dales  to  an  ende.  And  thus  in  vanitie  they  spend  the  Lorde  his 
treasure,  consuming  their  golden  yeres  and  siluer  dales  in  wick- 
ednesse  and  sinne.    And  as  the  fashions  bee  rare  and  strange, 

*"  English  Mutability  in  Dress." 

t  Philip  Stubbes,  "  Anatomic  of  Abuses,"  1586. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  61 

BO  is  the  stuflFe  whereof  their  hattes  be  made  diners  also;  for 
some  are  of  silke,  some  of  uehiet,  some  of  taflfatie,  some  of  sarce- 
net, some  of  wooll,  and,  whiche  is  more  curious,  some  of  a 
certaine  kinde  of  fine  haire;  these  they  call  beuer  hattes,  of  xx. 
XXX.  or  xl.  shillinges  price,  fetched  from  beyonde  the  seas,  from 
whence  a  greate  sorte  of  other  vanities  doe  come  besides.  And 
so  common  a  thing  it  is,  that  euery  seruyng  man,  countrieman, 
and  other,  euen  all  indefferently,  dooe  weare  of  these  hattes. 
For  he  is  of  no  account  or  estimation  amongst  men  if  he  haue 
not  a  ueluet  or  taffatie  hatte,  and  that  must  be  pincked,  and 
cunnyngly  carued  of  the  beste  fashion.  And  good  profitable 
hattes  be  these,  for  the  longer  you  weare  them  the  fewer  holes 
they  haue.  Besides  this,  of  late  there  is  a  new  fashion  of 
wearyng  their  hattes  sprong  vp  amongst  them,  which  they  father 
vpon  a  Frenchman,  namely,  to  weare  them  with  bandes,  but  how 
vnsemely  (I  will  not  sale  how  assie)  a  fashion  that  is  let  the 
wise  judge;  notwithstanding,  howeuer  it  be,  if  it  please  them, 
it  shall  not  displease  me. 

And  another  sort  (as  phantasticall  as  the  rest)  are  content 
with  no  kinde  of  hat  without  a  greate  bunche  of  feathers  of 
diuers  and  sondrie  colours,  peakyng  on  top  of  their  heades,  not 
vnlike  (I  dare  not  sale)  cockescombes,  but  as  sternes  of  pride, 
and  ensignes  of  vanity.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  these  flut- 
terying  sailes,  and  feathered  flagges  of  defiaunce  of  vertue  (for 
so  they  be)  are  so  advanced  in  Ailgna  [England],  that  euery 
child  hath  them  in  his  hat  or  cap:  many  get  good  lining  by 
dying  and  selling  of  them,  and  not  a  few  proue  theselues  more 
than  fooles  in  wearyng  of  them. 

Bright,  in  "  Bartholomew  Fair  "  (Act  I.,  Sc.  4),  says: 

By   this  two-handed  beaver,  which   is   so   thin 

And  light,  a  butterfly's  wings  put  to  't  would  make  it 

A   Mercury's  flying  hat,  and  soar  aloft. 

And  Edgeworth,  in  the  same  play: 

See  him  steal  pears  in  exchange  for  his  beaver  hat  and  his 
cloak,  thus. 

Gay  afterward  wrote: 

The  Broker  here  his  spacious  beaver  wears; 
Upon  his  brow  sit  jealousies  and  cares.* 

*"  Trivia." 


63  THE   QUAKER. 

A  list  of  clothing  for  Prince  Henry,  eldest  son  of 
James  I.,  in  a  bill  rendered  by  Alexander  Wilson, 
tailor,  September  28,  1607,  contains  "  a  side  hunting 
coat  camblett  wrought  alle  thicke  with  silke  galowne 
in  3  together  [double  ?]  with  a  whoode  [hood]  of 
same  camblett,"  etc.  Also,  "  Beavers  of  divers 
colours,  lined  with  satin  or  taffeta,"  at  sixty  shillings 
each,  and  "  new  dying  and  lining  three  beavers  with 
taffeta  or  sateen,"  five  shillings.*  Plumes  on  the  broad 
hat  came  in  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
continued  to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne.  The  Spanish 
Dons  on  the  streets  of  London  were  familiar  figures  in 
their  flat-crowned  hats  and  short  cloaks,  taking  snuff 
prodigiously  and  smelling  of  garlic.  Plain  broad-brim 
hats  of  shovel  shape  were  worn  a  good  deal  in  the  coun- 
try and  by  poorer  Londoners  for  many  years  after  this, 
when  the  cocked  hat  had  begun  its  long  and  eventful 
reign.  Samuel  Pepys,  to  whose  invaluable  diary  we 
must  often  turn,  tells  us,  under  date  of  November  30, 
1663:  "  Put  on  my  new  beaver  ";  and  the  next  year  he 
says:  "  Caught  cold  by  flinging  off  my  hat  at  dinner," 
In  a  note  to  this  passage  in  Lord  Clarendon's  "  Essay  on 
Decay  of  Respect  due  to  Old  Age,"  the  author  says  that 
in  his  younger  days  he  never  kept  his  hat  on  before  his 
elders  "  except  at  dinner  "  !  This  custom  lasted  into 
the  next  century.  Pepys  says  again  (February  22, 
1666-7):  "All  of  us  to  Sir  W.  Pen's  house,  where 
some  other  company.  It  is  instead  of  a  wedding  dinner 
for  his  daughter.  .  .  .  We  had  favors  given  us  all,  and 
we  put  them  in  our  hats,  I  against  my  wall,  but  that  my 
Lord  [Brouncker]  and  the  rest  did."    This  was  doubt- 

*Arch8eologia.    Vol.  XXIV.    1793. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  63 

less  at  table.  Planche  says  that  the  absence  of  hats  in 
the  print  of  the  banquet  for  Charles  II.  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  presence  of  the  sovereign. 

The  gentleman  of  fashion  in  1695  wore  his  hair  long 
under  a  broad  plumed  hat.  The  jeweled  sword  at  his 
side  dangled  from  an  embroidered  scarf;  enormous  coat 
cuffs  concealed  his  hands,  when  they  were  not  thrust 
into  a  huge  muff.  The  large  bordered  hat  was  turned 
up  at  three  sides,  and  until  1710  kept  the  adornment  of 
plumes.  After  that  the  cord  and  ribbon  seem  to  have 
been  adopted.''^  These  flapping  brims  grew  so  broad  as 
to  necessitate  looping  up,  and  hence  the  origin  of  the 
cocked  hat,  which  had  a  long  and  honored  career.  The 
absence  of  cocking  denoted  the  sloven,  f 

"  Take  out  your  snufT-box,  cock,  and  look  smart,  hah," 

says  Carlos,  in  Gibber's  "  Love  makes  a  Man."  Their 
numerous  shapes  are  alluded  to  by  Budgell  ^:  "  1  ob- 
served afterwards  that  the  variety  of  Cock  in  which 
he  moulded  his  Hat,  had  not  a  little  contributed  to  his 
Impositions  upon  me."  That  man  was  to  be  guarded 
against  "who  had  a  sly  look  in  his  eye,  and  wore  the  but- 
ton of  his  hat  in  front."  Both  sexes  wore  small  looking- 
glasses.      Men   even    wore    them   in   their   hats.      In 

*  "  Le  bas  de  milan,  le  castor, 
Ome  d'un  riche  cordon  d'or." 

— Quicherat,  "  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  p.  474. 
An  early  poem,  "  The  Mercer,"  belonging  to  the  thirteenth  century, 
(Percy  Soc,  Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  9,)  says:  "  J'ai  beax  laz  a  chapeax  de 
feutre."  ("  I  have  beautiful  lace  for  beaver  hats  ").  The  cable  hat-band 
was  introduced  about  1599  ;  and  in  the  speech  of  Fastidio  in  "  Every  Man 
Out  of  His  Humour,"  we  find  him  saying  :  "  I  had  a  gold  cable  hat-band, 
then  new  come  up,  of  massie  goldsmith's  work." 

t"  My  mother  .  .  .  had  rather  follow  me  to  the  grave  than  see  me 
tear  my  clothes,  and  hang  down  my  head  and  sneak  about  with  dirty  shoes 
and  blotted  fingers,  hair  unpowdered  and  a  hat  uncocked."  (Rambler, 
109.)    See  also,  Ashton,  "  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  p.  107. 

t  Spectator,  319. 


64  THE    QUAKER. 

"  Cynthia's  Kevels  "  we  read:     "  Where  is  your  page? 

Call  for  your  casting  bottle,  and  place  your  mirror  in 

your  hat,  as  I  told  you."    This,  however,  was  the  height 

of  affectation.     Ladies  wore  mirrors  in  their  girdles, 

and  on  their  breasts;  and  Lovelace  says: 

"  My  lively  shade  thou  ever  shalt  retaine. 
In  thy  enclosed,  feather-framed  glasse."  * 

The  cocked  hat  was  universal,  and  was  worn  by  boys 
as  well  as  men — the  "  tri-corne  "  of  the  French.  The 
varying  cocks  f  were  well  known ;  there  were,  for  in- 
stance, the  "  military  cock,"  the  "  mercantile  cock," 
the  "  Denmark  cock  ";  they  were  ridiculed  occasionally 
as  the  "  Egham,  Staines  and  Windsor,"  from  the  three- 
cornered  sign  post  of  that  name.  During  this  period 
all  hats  were  black,  with  a  gold  or  silver  band. 

The  London  Chronicle  (Vol.  XL,  p.  167,  for  the  year 

1762)  has  the  following: 

Hats  are  now  worn  upon  an  average,  six  inches  and  three- 
fifths  broad  in  the  brim,  and  cocked  between  Quaker  and  Keven- 
huller.  Some  have  their  hats  open  before,  like  a  church-spout, 
or  the  tin  scales  they  weigh  flower  in;  some  wear  them  rather 
sharper,  like  the  nose  of  a  greyhound;  and  we  can  distinguish 
by  the  taste  of  the  hat,  the  mode  of  the  wearer's  mind.  There 
is  the  military  cock,  and  the  mercantile  cock;  and  while  the 
beaux  of  St.  James  wear  their  hats  under  their  arms,  the  beaux 
of  Morefield  'Mall  wear  theirs  diagonally  over  the  left  or  right 
eye.  Sailors  wear  the  sides  of  their  hats  uniformly  tucked  down 
to  the  crown,  and  look  as  if  they  carried  a  triangular  apple- 
pasty  upon  their  heads.  .  .  .  With  Quakers  it  is  a  point  of  their 
faith  not  to  wear  a  button  or  a  loop  tight  up;  their  hats  spread 
over  their  heads  like  a  pent-house,  and  darken  the  outward  man, 
to  signify  that  they  have  the  inward  light. 

*Thistleton-Dyer,  "  Domestic  Folk  Lore,"  p.  115. 

t  In  the  two-cocked  hat  originated  our  naval  and  military  cocked  hats 
of  modem  uniform. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  (55 

The  "  Kevenhuller  "  would  seem  to  have  heen  an  ex- 
aggerated form  of  cock,  for  one  writ- 
ing in  The  Connoisseur,  in  1754  (ISTo. 
36),  had  said  of  the  women's  hats  in 
that  year:  "  They  are  more  bold  and 
impudent  than  the  broad-brimmed, 
staring  KevenJiullers  worn  a  few  years  rpj^^  "Kevenhuller." 
ago  by  the  men."  (After  Hogarth.) 

The  "  Ladie's  Advice  to  A  Painter,"  in  the  London 
Magazine  for  August,  1755,  ran  thus: 

Painter,  once  more  shew  thy  art; 
Draw  the  idol  of  my  heart; 
Draw  him  as  he  sports  away. 
Softly   smiling,  sweetly  gay; 
Carefully  each  mode  express, 
For  man's  judgment  is  his  dress. 
Cock  his  beaver  neat  and  well, 
(Beaver   size   of  cockleshell) ; 
Cast  around  a  silver  cordj 
Glittering  like  the  polish'd  sword. 
Let  his  wig  be  thin  of  hairs, 
(Wig  that  covers  half  his  ears) . 

Toward  the  end  of  the  century  there  were  signs  of  a 
change.  In  1770  hats  became  round;  in  1772  they  rose 
behind  and  fell  before,  as  in  the  portraits  of  some  of 
the  old  worthies  well  known.  The  round  hat  that  again 
appeared  after  1789,  with  highish  crown  and  wide 
brim,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  top  hat  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  1776,  the  period  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, the  popular  hat  in  Paris  was  that  "  a  la  Suisse," 
known  later  as  the  "  Alpine "  hat.  Parisian  anglo- 
maniacs  preferred  the  "  jockey,"  small  and  round. 
Then  there  were  hats  "  a  la  Hollandais,"and  "  a  la 
Quaker,"  both  the   latter  round  in   form,  with   large 


66  THE   QUAKER. 

brim,  usually  worn  in  preference  by  the  more  old- 
fashioned.  The  French  Revolution  put  a  period  to 
wigs,  and  hence  also  to  the  "  chapeau  bras  ";  for  as  a 
protection  these  enormous  powdered  periwigs  rendered 
hats  superfluous,  beside  the  necessity  for  displaying 
what  had  been  come  at  with  such  expenditure  of  time 
and  money! 

"  His  pretty  black  beaver  tucked  under  his  arm, 
If  placed  on  his  head,  might  keep  it  too  warm  !  " 

After  the  great  periwig  disappeared,  the  ''  tie  "  wig 
followed,  and  then  the  "  queue  "  of  natural  hair,  with  its 
neat  ribbon  bow,  so  familiar  to  us  in  the  portraits  of 
Washington  and  the  men  of  the  succeeding  generation. 
The  hat  again  became  a  necessity  rather  than  a  luxury, 
and  resumed  its  place  on  the  head.  The  beaver  hat  had 
a  long  life  of  two  hundred  years.  Its  weight  was  doubt- 
less an  element  in  its  loss  of  popularity.  For  several 
years  the  "  filled  beaver  "'  (a  silk  finish  on  a  felt  body, 
now  obsolete),  was  worn;  and  by  the  early  nineteenth 
century  was  leaving  the  cocked  hat  solely  to  conserva- 
tive men  of  the  older  generation  for  full  dress. 

1810  saw  the  manufacture  of  the  first  all-silk  hat. 
It  did  not  become  popular  in  Paris,  and  consequently 
anywhere  else,  until  1830.  At  that  period  the  soft  hat 
for  purposes  of  dress  was  rejected,  and  the  top  hat 
came,  and  has  never  gone.  At  first  it  was  the  "  Wel- 
lington," with  "  yeoman  "  crown;  then  the  "Anglesea," 
with  bell-shaped  crown;  then  the  D'Orsay,  with  ribbed 
silk  binding  and  large  bow  on  the  band.*  The  Ameri- 
can, like  the  Frenchman,  has  been  largely  released  from 

*Georgiana  HUl,  "  History  of  English  Dress.    Vol.  II.,  p.  254. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  67 

the  dominion  of  the  stiff  hat  for  ordinary  occasions; 
and  this  freedom  is  traceable  to  the  influence  respec- 
tively of  the  first  Mexican  war,  when  we  made  the  ac- 
quaintance  of  the  soft  and  picturesque  Spanish  hat;  the 
rush  of  the  "  '49ers,"  who  were  again  introduced  to  it, 
in  California  three  years  later;  and  the  wild  enthusiasm 
that  greeted  Kossuth  when  he  first  came  to  our  shores 
wearing  the  "  Alpine  "  hat  and  feather,*  We  drew  the 
line  at  the  feather,  but  his  hat  is  with  us  still. 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  history  of  the  worldly  hat,  dur- 
ing two  hundred  years  of  Quakerism.  Let  us  see  what 
the  Quaker  did  with  his.  The  hat  worn  by  Fox  and 
ever  since  associated  in  our  minds  with  the  Quakers, 
was  that  of  the  cayalier,  without  the  feather,  worn  less 
jauntily,  but  still  the  same.  William  Penn's  more  fa- 
miliar figure  will  occur  to  us.  J^ow  it  is  easy  to  per- 
ceiye  that  in  a  community  where  the  people  had  been 
accustomed  to  see  their  older  members  retaining  the 
hat  much  of  the  time  while  indoors,  and  had  regarded 
the  rapidly  preyailing  custom  of  removing  it  on  enter- 
ing the  house  as  an  affectation  of  the  "  smart  set,"  that 
the  moment  any  notion  was  suggested  of  the  conscience 
being  involved  in  the  retention  of  that  article,  there 
would  be  a  prompt  response.  I^ot  only  did  the  Quakers 
decline  to  greet  their  neighbors  by  doffing  the  hat,  but 
they  were  equally  stiff  in  the  presence  of  the  sovereign. 
Swift  writes  to  Stella :    "  My  friend  Penn  came  here — 

*This  hat  was  much  like  the  Welsh  hat  still  worn,  and  the  Tyrolese 
steeple  hat.  There  was  an  old  legend  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains, 
that  the  Tyrolese  were  men  who  wore  such  high-pointed  hats  that  they 
could  not  walk  about  on  the  mountains  without  knocking  down  the  stars. 
So  the  Lord  God  drew  down  the  clouds  every  night  to  keep  the  stars  in 
Heaven  !  The  Spanish  hat  was  somewhat  the  same.  "  Upon  his  head 
was  a  hat  with  a  high  peak,  somewhat  of  the  kind  which  the  Spaniards 
call  ealane,  so  much  in  favor  with  the  bravos  of  Seville  and  Madrid." 
George  Borrow,  "  Romany  Rye,"  p.  34. 


68  THE   QUAKER. 

Will  Peirn,  the  Quaker — at  the  head  of  his  brethren, 
to  thank  the  Duke  for  his  kindness  to  their  people  in 
Ireland.  To  see  a  dozen  scoundrels  with  their  hats  on, 
and  the  Duke  complimenting  with  his  off,  was  a  good 
sight  enough."  *  Charles  II.  once  granted  an  audience 
to  the  courtly  Quaker,  William  Penn,  who,  as  was  his 
custom,  entered  the  royal  presence  with  his  hat  on.  The 
humorous  sovereign  quietly  laid  aside  his  own,  which 
occasioned  Penn's  inquiry,  "  Friend  Charles,  why  dost 
thou  remove  thy  hat  ?  "  "  It  is  the  custom,"  he  replied, 
"  in  this  place,  for  one  person  only  to  remain  covered." 

Apropos  of  Barclay's  dictum  in  the  Apology,  "  It  is 
not  lawful  for  Christians  to  kneel  or  prostrate  them- 
selves to  any  man,"  an  observer  of  the  English  who 
traveled  among  them  from  the  Continent  in  1698,  thus 
wrote,  noting  a  slight  improvement  in  the  manners  of 
the  stricter  Quakers  at  that  date : 

Plusieiirs  d'entre  eux.  depuis  quelques  arniees,  s'humanisent 
un  pen,  a  I'egard  de  la  salutation:  ils  n'otent  pas  le  chapean, 
Dieu  les  garde  de  eonimetre  cet  horrible  peche:  mais  ils  com- 
mencent  a  baiser  un  peu  le  menton,  a  faire  une  espece  de  petite 
inclination  de  tete. 

Old  Tom  Brown  wrote: 
These  are  more  just  than  the  other  dissenters,  because,  as  they 
pull  not  off  their  hats  to  God,  so  they  pull  them  not  off  to  men, 
whereas,  the  others  shall  cringe  and  bow  to  any  man  they  mjiy 
get  sixpence  by,  but  ne'er  vail  the  bonnet  to  God,  by  whom  they 
may  get  Heaven.t 

Fox  says: 

Moreover,  when  the  Lord  sent  me  into  the  world,  he  forbade 
mo  to  put  off  my  hat  to  any,  high  or  low,  and  I  was  required  to 
thee  and  thou  all  men  and  women,  without  any  respect  to  rich 
or  poor,  great  or  small.     And  as  I  travelled  up  and  down,  I  was 

*  Journal  to  Stella.    January  15,  1712. 

t  Quoted  "  Archseologia."    Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  51. 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  (39 

not  to  bid  people  Good-morrow  or  Good-evening,  neither  might 
I  bow  or  scrape  with  my  leg  to  any  one;  this  made  the  sects 
and  professions  rage. 

At  the  Launceston  assizes,  in  1656,  Fox  was  brought 
into  court  wearing  his  hat,  with  his  companion,  Edward 
Pjot.    He  says: 

We  stood  a  pretty  while  with  our  hats  on,  and  all  was  quiet. 
I  was  moved  to  say,  "  Peace  be  amongst  you."  Judge  Glyn,  a 
Welshman,  then  Chief  Justice  of  England,  said  to  the  gaoler, 
"  What  be  these  you  have  brought  here  into  court  ?  "  "  Prison- 
ers, my  Lord,"  says  he.  "  Why  do  you  not  put  off  your  hats  ? " 
said  the  judge  to  us.  We  said  nothing.  "  Put  off  your  hats," 
said  the  Judge  again.  Still  we  said  nothing.  Then  said  the 
Judge,  "  The  court  commands  you  to  put  off  your  hats."  Then 
I  queried,  "  Where  did  ever  any  magistrate,  king  or  judge,  from 
Moses  to  Daniel,  command  any  to  put  off  their  hats,  when  they 
came  before  them  in  their  courts,  either  among  the  Jews,  (the 
people  of  God),  or  the  heathen?  and  if  the  law  of  England  doth 
command  any  such  thing,  shew  me  that  law,  either  written  or 
printed."  The  Judge  grew  very  angry,  and  said,  "  I  do  not 
carry  my  law-books  on  my  back."  ...  So  they  took  us  away, 
and  put  us  among  the  thieves.  Presently  after  he  said  to  the 
gaoler,  "  Bring  them  up  again."  "  Come,"  said  he,  "  where  had 
they  hats,  from  Moses  to  Daniel?  Come,  answer  me,  I  have  you 
now."  I  replied,  "  Thou  mayest  read  in  the  third  of  Daniel,  that 
the  three  children  were  cast  into  the  fiery  furnace  by  Nebuchad 
nezzar's  command,  with  their  coats,  their  hose  and  their  hats 
on."  This  plain  instance  stopped  him;  so  that  not  having  any 
thing  else  to  the  point,  he  cried  again,  "  Take  him  away, 
gaoler." 

In  October,  1657,  at  Edinburgh,  Eox  was  obliged  to 
appear  before  the  Koyal  Council,  and  upon  his  entrance 
into  the  Council  Chamber  the  doorkeeper  removed  his 
hat.  "  I  asked  him,"  says  Eox,  "  why  he  did  so,  and 
who  was  there,  that  I  might  not  go  in  with  my  hat  on  ? 
I  told  him  I  had  been  before  the  Protector  with  my  hat 
on.  But  he  hung  up  my  hat  and  had  me  in  before 
them." 


70  THE    QUAKER. 

At  Basingstoke,  whicli  Fox  calls  "  a  very  rude  town," 
he  had  a  meeting,  at  the  close  of  which  he  says:  "  I 
was  moved  to  put  off  my  hat  and  pray  to  the  Lord  to 
open  their  understandings;  upon  which  they  raised  a 
report  that  I  put  off  my  hat  to  them,  and  bid  them 
goodnight,  which  was  never  in  my  heart."  At  Read- 
ing, 1658,  he  adds:  "  We  had  much  to  do  with  them 
about  our  hats,  and  saying  Thou  and  Thee  to  them. 
They  turned  their  profession  of  patience  and  modera- 
tion into  rage  and  madness;  many  of  them  were  like 
distracted  men  for  this  hat-honour."  At  the  Exon  as- 
sizes Friends  were  fined  for  not  putting  off  their  hats. 
At  Tenby,  John-ap-John  was  imprisoned  for  wearing 
his  hat  in  what  Fox  calls  "  the  steeple-house,"  which  he 
entered  after  leaving  the  meeting  which  Fox  was  at  the 
time  conducting.  ]!^ext  day,  in  a  conversation  with  the 
Governor,  Fox  says: 

I  asked  him,  "  Why  he  cast  my  friend  into  prison  ?  "  He  said, 
"  For  standing  with  his  hat  on  in  the  church."  I  said,  "  Had  not 
the  priest  two  caps  on  his  head,  a  black  one  and  a  white  one? 
Cut  off  the  brims  of  the  hat,  and  then  my  friend  would  have  but 
one ;  and  the  brims  of  the  hat  were  but  to  defend  him  from  the 
■weather."  "  These  are  frivolous  things,"  said  the  Governor. 
"  Why,  then,"  said  I,  "  dost  thou  cast  my  friend  into  prison  for 
such  frivolous  things  ?  " 

In  London,  before  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Friends  were 
finally  admitted  to  court  with  their  hats  on,  chiefly 
through  the  mediation  of  others. 

That  so  serious  results  should  have  followed  so  ap- 
parently innocent  a  peculiarity  as  the  refusal  to  remove 
the  hat,  or  give  what  the  Quakers  termed  "  hat-honor," 
seems  almost  incredible  to  us  now.  And  doubtless 
there  were  many  in  the  position  of  Johnson's  "  pious 


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A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  71 

gentleman/'  who,  though  "  he  never  entered  a  church, 
never  passed  one  without  taking  off  his  hat."  Robert 
Barclay  sums  up  the  whole  matter  when  he  says: 

Kneeling,  bowing  and  uncovering  of  the  head  is  the  alone  out- 
ward signification  of  our  adoration  towards  God,  and  therefore 
it  is  not  lawful  to  give  it  unto  man.  He  that  kneeleth  or  pros- 
trateth  himself  to  man,  what  doeth  he  more  to  God?  He  that 
boweth  and  uncovereth  his  head  to  the  Creature,  what  hath  he 
reserved  to  the  Creator  ?  * 

It  has  been  the  mistake  of  writers  upon  costume  not 
only  to  assert  that  the  shape  of  the  hat  has  never  ma- 
terially altered  among  the  Quakers,  but  that  they  never 
wore  cocked  hats  at  all.  That  cocked  hats  accom- 
panied the  wigs,  and  were  the  usual  form  of  head-dress 
at  one  time,  even  in  the  minister's  gallery,  is  a  per- 
fectly established  fact.  George  Dillwyn,  who  died  in 
1820,  wears  the  transition  hat,  from  the  cock,  to  the 
broad-brim  revived  and  modified.  The  broad-brim  and 
the  cock  are  the  two  forms  of  the  Quaker  hat.  The 
common  sense  of  the  cock  early  appealed  to  the  f)rac- 
tical  Quaker  mind,  and  we  have  many  portraits  of 
prominent  Quakers  in  hats  of  varying  cock — Dr.  Foth- 
ergill.  Dr.  Lettsom,  William  Cookworthy  in  England; 
and  in  America,  Robert  Proud,  the  Pembertons,  Owen 
Jones,  and  many  others.  The  Americans  were  always 
more  strict  in  dress  than  the  English,  largely  because 
his  proximity  to  the  continent  familiarized  the  English- 
man with  more  cosmopolitan  ideas.  However,  the  kind 
of  cock  was  vastly  important.  Hannah  Callowhill 
Penn,  William  Penn's  second  wife,  in  writing  to  her 
son  Thomas  Penn,  in  London,  December,  1717,  says; 

*  "  Apology."    Proposition  XV. 


72  THE   QUAKER. 

I  wish  thou  could  have  shifted  till  nearer  Spring  for  a  hatt, 
for  I  doubt  to  buy  a  good  one  now  'twill  be  near  spoyled  before 
the  Hight  of  summer.  .  .  .  However,  consider  and  act  for  the 
best  Husbandry,  and  then  please  thyself e;  but  be  sure  weh.  ever 
'tis,  that  'tis  packed  up  in  a  very  Frd.  like  way,  for  the  fantas- 
tical cocks  in  thine  and  thy  brother  Johne's  hats  has  burthened 
my  Spiritt  much,  and  Indeed  more  than  most  of  your  Dress  be- 
sides; therefore,  as  thou  Valines  my  Comfort,  Regulate  it  more 
for  the  future.  I  have  a  Multitude  of  Toyls  and  Cares,  but  they 
would  be  greatly  Mitigated,  if  I  may  but  behold  thee  and  thy 
Brother,  persuing  hard  after  Vertue  and  leaving  as  behind  your 
backs  the  Toyish  allurements  and  snares  of  this  uncertam 
world,* 

In  spite  of  himself,  the  Quaker  was  carried  along  on 
the  tide  of  fashion;  indeed,  he    might   to    this  day  be 

wearing  his  heavy  beaver  hat,  had 
it  not,  like  the  mammoth,  become 
extinct !  Certain  of  the  "  plainer 
sort "  (not  in  the  sense  in  which 
George  Fox  used  the  term,  but 
meaning  the  more  strict  in  guise) 
for  many  years  refused  to  dye  the 
beaver  of  their  hats.  The  last 
white  beaver  hat  did  not  disappear 

Owen  Jones.  -  -p.,  ..     ,   .    ^  .  -i      h  o^/> 

ColonialTreasurerofPenna.       irom       Jr^hlladelphia       UUtll       loTO, 
Nat.  1711.    Obiitl793.  ^ 

Ae.82.  when  what  we  know  as  the  modern 

silk  hat  appeared,  f  A  modification  of  it  was  adopted 
by  the  cosmopolitan  Quaker,  and  has  ever  since 
been  retained.  To  the  initiated,  however,  the  silk 
hat  goes  a  long  way  to  mark  the  man;  and 
the  decree  of  King  Edward  VII.  in  favor  of 
that    adornment,    keeps    it    de    rigueur    in    England 

♦Howard  M.  Jenkins,  "  The  Family  of  "William  Penn,"  p.  99. 

t  John  Hetherington  wore  the  first  silk  top  hat  on  the  Strand,  in 
London,  in  1797.  The  style  was  his  own  invention,  and  he  was  mobbed  in 
consequence. 


JOirX  PEMEEKTON. 


HENRY   DF>1NKER. 


JAMES   PEMEEKTON. 


JOHN   PAHRISll. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


and  America.  As  the  silk  hat  of  the  cabinet  minis- 
ter is  not  the  mercantile  silk  hat,  nor  yet  that  of 
the  cleric,  so  the  Quaker  hat  also  retains  its  indi- 
viduality; and  in  its  shiny  perfection  and  its  amplitude 
of  dimensions,  when  mounted  above  the  occasional 
straight  coat  collar,  more  nearly  resembles  the  dress 
of  the  American  Roman  Catholic  priest  than  any  other. 
The  modern  young  Quaker  has  now  freed  himself 
from  the  conventions  of  the  early  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  is  often  ignorant  of  the  true  reasons  for  the 
peculiarities  of  his  forefathers.  When  the  court  gal- 
lants of  James  II.  lowered  their  crowns  and  widened 


Puritan.  1653. 

their  brims,  the  Puritans  kept  their  crowns  high. 
Charles  II.  escaped  in  a  "  very  greasy  old  grey  steeple- 
crowned  hat,  with  the  brim  turned  up,  without  lining 
or  hat-band."  The  high-crowned  hat  was  beginning  to 
be  old-fashioned  before  his  time;  hence  its  choice  as  a 
means  of  disguise.  So  tall  a  hat  had  had  its  inconveni- 
ences, as  we  read:  "  I  pray,  what  were  our  sugar-loofe 
hats,  so  mightily  affected  of  late,  both  by  men  and 
women,  so  incommodious  for  us,  that  every  puffe  of 
winde  deprived  us  of  them,  requiring  the  employment 


74  THE   QUAKER. 

of  one  hand  to  keep  them  on."  *  The  tall  hat  came  to 
America  on  our  Pilgrim  Fathers,  where  its  shape  un- 
derwent a  slight  alteration.  The  brim  became  more 
narrow,  and  the  top  rather  less  pointed.  Difficulty  in 
finishing  the  beaver  quite  so  finely  also  left  the  fur 
more  fluffy.  We  are  told  that  this  hat  lasted  in  New 
England  until  the  time  came  for  Benjamin  Franklin 
to  go  to  France,  when,  as  we  know,  he  went  to  Paris 
in  a  New  England  chimney-pot  hat.  This  was  at  once 
adopted  by  the  ardent  Parisians,  who  almost  worshiped 
the  American  envoy,  as  "  anti-English,"  the  symbol  of 
Liberty,  etc.  For  some  years  the  French  had  a  monop- 
oly of  it;  then  it  came  to  England,  and  eventually  to 
America  again,  transformed  and  modified  into  the 
modern  top  hat.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  Quakers 
adopted  the  court  style  of  James  II.,  and  not  the  Puri- 
tan hat,  when  they  first  wore  the  beaver,  illustrating 
in  the  hat,  as  has  elsewhere  been  shown  in  their  long 
hair,  the  loyalty  to  the  crown  that  was  a  part  of  their 
conservatism.  One  of  these  early  Quaker  hats,  once 
the  property  of  Peuben  Macy,  may  now  be  seen  in  the 
museum  at  Nantucket,  Massachusetts. f 

The  attitude  of  the  Quakers  at  once  led  to  endless 
controversies,  whose    repetition    here    is  unnecessary. 

*Bulwer,  "Artificial  Changeling."  Quoted  by  Repton,  in  Arch- 
seologia.    Vol.  XXIV.,  p.  181. 

fA  French  Canadian  Journal  of  recent  date  (Montreal  "  Presse," 
ed.  hebdomadaire,  May  18th,  1899),  thus  describes  with  mild  surprise 
and  courteously  expressed  admiration,  a  nineteenth  century  Friend  who 
has  retained  the  plain  garb  of  the  latest  form  evolved.  He  is  called 
"  un  ministre  Quaker,"  "  d'une  taille  gigantesqiie."  "Pour  ne  parler 
que  de  sa  coiffure,  disons  de  suite  qu'il  portait  un  chapeau  de  castor  de 
dix-huit  pouces  de  hauteur  avec  des  bords  droits  d'egales  dimensions. 
.  .  .  II  ne  parle  qu'a  la  seconde  personne,  et  n'ote  son  fameux  couvre- 
che.(  qvie  pour  dormir  !  En  dehors  de  sa  toquade  religieuse,  dont  il  vqus 
entretient  a  I'exclusion  de  tout  autre  sujet,  c'est  un  gentilhomme  d'uae  in- 
telligence remarkable." 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME. 


75 


Much  literature  appeared  on  the  subject,  which  fur- 
nished a  fruitful  source  to  the  writer  of  satirical  tracts. 
Such  things  were  published  as  "  Wickham  Wakened: 
or  The  Quakers  Madrigal,  in  Rime  Dogrell,"  begin- 
ning: 

The  Quaker  and  his  brats 
Are  born  with  their  hats^ 
Which  a  point  with  two  Taggs 
Ties  fast  to  their  Craggs.* 

Certain  Friends  warned  their  members  that  the  re- 
moval of  the  hat  was  a  dangerous  formality.  During 
worship,  however,  Fox  had  given  instructions  that  the 


head  should  be  uncovered  at  time  of  prayer,  and 
Friends  should  either  reverently  kneel,  as  among  the 
Episcopalians,  or  stand,  as  did  the  Presbyterians.  The 
latter  custom  eventually  became  adopted. 

The  "  Canons  and  Institutions  "  of  Fox,  in  Article 
Seventh,  condemn  "  those  who  wear  their  Hattes  when 

*By  Martin  Llewellyn,  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 


76  THE    QUAKER. 

Friends  pray."  Fox  was  originally  in  the  habit  of  at- 
tending the  Church  of  England.  When  welcome  doc- 
trine was  expounded,  he  removed  his  hat;  if,  however, 
the  preacher  uttered  unwelcome  sentiments,  he  sol- 
emnly put  it  on  as  a  protest;  and  if  the  matter  continued 
to  offend  him,  he  rose  and  silently  left.  It  was  for 
purposes  of  habitual  protest  that  Quakers  first  learned 
to  sit  in  places  of  worship  with  their  hats  on.  The  pro- 
test was  a  decorous  and  inoffensive  one,  compared  with 
much  of  the  rough  dealing  then  prevalent.  There  was 
no  proper  attitude  of  reverence  in  the  London  churches 
up  to,  and  during  the  time  of  Queen  Anne;  lolling,  ris- 
ing, or  sitting  at  mil  being  the  rule,  even  among  the 
Episcopalians.*  The  Presbyterian  minister's  example 
in  the  pulpit  was  so  far  followed,  that  often  in  country 
neighborhoods,  one  might  see  the  louts  of  the  congre- 
gation fling  on  their  hats  in  sermon  time.  In  Scotland, 
in  1740,  a  traveler  condemns  "  a  custom  which  I  see 
is  getting  pretty  general  among  the  lower  sort,  of  cock- 
ing on  the  hat  when  the  sermon  began."  William 
Mucklow,  who,  in  his  "  Spirit  of  the  Hat,"  had  said  that 
"  the  removal  of  the  hat  in  worship  and  during  prayer 
is  the  beginning  of  a  formal  worship,"  was  eventually 
"  recovered  to  a  better  mind,"  and  brought  to  agree 
with  Fox  and  to  be  more  in  charity  with  Friends. 
George  Whitehead  says,f  "All  preaching  cannot  be  that 
entire  and  peculiar  prophesying,  which,  when  one  is  im- 
mediately called  to,  I  grant  it  is  most  seemly  to  stand 
up  with  the  hat  off."  Some  others  beside  the  Inde- 
pendents preached  with  the  hat  on.     Lady  Montague 

»See  Spectator,  No.  455,  and  Tatler,  No.  241. 
t"  The  Apostate  Incendiary  Rebuked,"  p.  30. 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  77 

wrote  from  Nimeguen,  in  the  Netherlands,  in  1716 
[Letters]  :  "  I  was  yesterday  at  the  French  church,  and 
stared  very  much  at  the  manner  of  the  service.  The 
parson  clapped  on  a  broad  brimmed  hat  in  the  first 
place,  which  gave  him  the  air  of  What  d'ye  call  him,  in 
Bartholomew  Fair."  Up  to  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  the  hat  was  a  prominent  object  in  their 
pulpits.  At  a  parish  in  Clydesdale  (Scotland),  the 
patron  said  to  a  new  candidate  for  the  incumbency, 
"  Sir,  there  are  two  nails  in  the  pulpit,  on  one  of  which 
the  late  worthy  minister  used  to  hang  his  hat.  If  you 
put  your  hat  on  the  right  one,  it  will  please;  none  of 
the  others  have  hit  upon  it."  He  did  so,  and  got  the 
place  !*  The  clergy  in  the  earliest  days  in  England  had 
worn  woollen  caps,  which  in  some  form  long  prevailed. 
The  Scotch  minister  of  1700  was  not  so  different  from 
his  congregation  in  dress  as  one  hundred  years  later, 
when  an  official  clerical  uniform  had  been  evolved  and 
received  general  recognition.  The  cleric  of  the  earlier 
date  wore  gray  homespun,  like  his  next  neighbor,  with 
a  colored  cravat;  while  in  1800,  he  appeared  on  Edin- 
burgh streets,  wearing  a  brown  wig,  or  possibly  pow- 
dered hair  in  a  pigtail,  a  cocked  hat,  black  single- 
breasted  coat,  frills  and  ruffles,  knee-breeches  and  sil- 
ver-buckled shoes,  and  bore  himseK  with  a  general  air 
of  dignity  that  his  predecessor  would  have  regarded  as 
savoring  of  worldliness  to  the  last  degree.  Culture  and 
religion,  in  those  early  days  in  Scotland,  could  never  go 
hand  in  hand. 

Martin  Mason,   of  Lincoln,  who  was  one  of  John 
Perot's  schism  in  regard  to  taking  off  the  hat  in  time 


*H.  G.  Graham,  "  Social  Life  in  Scotland  in  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury."    Vol.  II.,  p.  104. 


78  THE   QUAKER. 

of  prayer,*  and  who  wrote  verses  to  the  memory  of 
Perot,  says,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "  What  matter 
whether  Hat  on  or  Hat  off,  so  long  as  the  Heart  is 
right  ?  "  t 

The  majesty  of  the  law  demanded  recognition  in  the 
removal  of  the  hat ;  and  it  was  in  the  courts  that  Friends 
suffered  most  severely  because  they  could  not  conscien- 
tiously observe  the  conventionalities.  The  famous  case 
of  William  Penn  and  William  Meade,  the  son-in-law  of 
Margaret  Fox,  may  be  cited  as  an  early  instance.  After 
their  discharge  by  the  jury  at  the  trial,  September  1-5, 
1670,  they  were  re-committed  to  Newgate  in  default 
of  payment  of  fines  for  "  contempt  of  court  "  in  declin- 
ing to  remove  their  hats  during  the  trial.  Admiral 
Penn  paid  their  fines  two  days  later,  without  their 
knowledge,  and  they  were  released.  Thousands  of 
similar  cases  are  to  be  found  in  England.  The  feeling 
was  the  same  in  New  England.  But  the  presence  of 
Penn  at  the  head  of  the  administration  of  affairs  in 
Pennsylvania  gave  the  Quakers  in  that  colony  a  distinct 
advantage  in  regard  to  some  of  their  scruples.  After 
his  death,  the  traditions  of  his  proprietaryship  are  well 
exemplified  in  the  following  petition  and  the  resulting 
order  of  the  Chancellor.  Sir  William  Keith,  who  filled 
that  office,  instituted  in  1720  a  Court  of  Chancery, 
and  it  was  before  that  court  that  the  eminent  Chief  Jus- 
tice Kinsey  appeared  with  his  hat  on.  John  Kinsey 
was  prominent  both  as  lawyer  and  Quaker,  and  when  he 

*Ellwood  refers  to  Perot's  "  peculiar  error  of  keeping  on  the  Hatte 
in  Time  of  Prayer,  as  well  publick  as  private,  unless  they  had  an  imme- 
diate motion  at  that  time  to  put  it  off." 

t  Joseph  Smith,  Catalogue  of  Friends'  Books.  Vol.  II.,  p.  153.  See 
also,  by  Pilchard  Richardson,  of  London,  "  Of  adoration  in  general,  &,  in 
particular,  of  Hat-Honour — their  rise,  etc."    Svo.  1680. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  79 

followed  the  usual  custom  of  his  sect  in  retaining  his 
hat,  the  President  promptly  ordered  it  taken  off,  which 
was  accordingly  done.*  This  arbitrary  proceeding 
called  forth 

The  humble  address  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  by  appoint- 
ment of  their  Quarterly  Meeting,  held  in  Philadelphia,  for  the 
city  and  county,  2nd.  of  second  month,  1725, — 

May  it  please  the  Governor:  Having  maturely  considered  the 
inconveniences  and  hardships  which,  we  are  apprehensive,  all 
those  of  our  community  may  be  laid  under  who  shall  be  obliged 
or  required  to  attend  the  respective  courts  of  judicature  in  this 
province,  if  they  may  not  be  admitted  without  first  having  their 
hats  taken  oS  from  their  heads  by  an  officer,  as  we  understand 
was  the  case  of  our  friend  John  Kinsey,  when  the  Governor  waa 
pleased  to  command  his  to  be  taken  off,  before  he  could  be  ad- 
mitted to  speak  in  a  case  depending  in  a  Court  of  Chancery, 
after  that  he  had  declared  that  he  could  not,  for  conscience, 
comply  with  the  Governor's  order  to  himself  to  the  same  pur- 
pose; which,  being  altogether  new  and  unprecedented  in  this 
province,  was  the  more  surprising  to  the  spectators,  and  as  we 
conceive  (however  slight  some  may  account  it)  has  a  tendency 
to  the  subversion  of  our  religious  liberties. 

This  province,  with  the  powers  of  government,  was  granted 
by  King  Charles  the  Second  to  our  proprietor,  who,  at  the  time 
of  the  said  grant,  was  known  to  dissent  from  the  national  way 
of  worship  in  divers  points,  and  particularly  in  that  of  outward 
behavior,  of  refusing  to  pay  unto  man  the  honors  that  he,  with 
all  others  of  the  same  profession,  believe  only  to  be  due  to  the 
Supreme  Being;  and  they  have,  on  occasions,  supported  their  tes- 
timony, so  far  as  to  be  frequently  subjected  to  the  insults  of 
such  as  require  that  homage. 

That  the  principal  part  of  those  who  accompanied  our  said 
proprietor  in  his  first  settlement  of  this  colony  with  others  of 
the  same  profession,  who  have  since  retired  into  it,  justly  con- 
ceived that  by  virtue  of  said  powers  granted  to  our  proprietor, 
they  should  have  a  free  and  unquestioned  right  to  the  exercise 
of  their  religious  principles,  and  their  persuasion  in  the  afore- 
mentioned points  and  all  others,  by  which  they  were  dis- 
tinguished from  those   of  all  other  professions.    And  it   seems 


*  Proud.    Vol.  II.,  p.  197. 


80  TEE   QUAKER. 

not  unreasonable  to  conceive  an  indulgence  intended  by  the 
crown,  in  graciously  leaving  the  government  to  him  and  thera 
in  such  manner  as  may  best  suit  their  circumstances  which 
appears  to  have  been  an  early  care  in  the  first  legislators,  by 
several  acts,  as  that  of  Liberty  of  Conscience,  and  more  particu- 
larly by  a  law  of  the  province,  passed  in  the  thirteenth  year  of 
King  William,  Chapter  xcii,  now  in  force.  It  is  provided,  "  That 
in  all  courts,  all  persons,  of  all  persuasions,  may  freely  appear  in 
their  own  way,  and  according  to  their  own  manner,  and  there 
personally  plead  their  own  cause,  or,  if  unable,  by  their  friends," 
which  provision  appears  to  be  directly  intended  to  guard  against 
all  exceptions  to  any  person  appearing  in  their  own  way,  as  our 
friend  at  the  aforesaid  court. 

Now,  though  no  people  can  be  more  ready  and  willing,  in  all 
things  essential,  to  pay  due  regard  to  superiors,  and  honor  the 
courts  of  justice,  and  those  who  administer  them,  yet,  in  such 
points  as  interfere  with  our  conscientious  persuasion,  we  have 
openly  and  firmly  borne  our  testimony  in  all  countries  and 
places  where  our  lot  has  fallen. 

We  must  therefore,  crave  leave  to  hope,  from  the  reasons  here 
humbly  offered,  that  the  Governor,  when  he  fully  considers  thera, 
will  be  of  opinion  with  us,  tliat  we  may  justly  and  modestly 
claim  it  as  a  right,  that  we  and  our  friends  should,  at  all  times, 
be  excused  in  the  government  from  any  compliances  against  our 
conscientious  persuasions;  and  humbly  request  that  he  would,  in 
future,  account  it  so  to  us,  thy  assured,  well-wishing  friends. 

Signed  by  appointment  of  the  said  meeting, 

John  Goodson,  Samuel  Preston,  Morris  Morris, 

Rowland   Ellis,  William  Hudson,  Anthony  Morris, 

Eeece  Thomas,  Richard  Hill,  Evan  Evans. 
Richard  Hayes, 

On  consideration  had  of  the  humble  address  presented,  this 
day  read  in  open  court,  from  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  peo- 
ple called  Quakers  for  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia;  it  is 
ordered,  that  the  address  be  filed  with  the  Register,  and  that  it 
be  made  a  standing  rule  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  for  the  Prov- 
ince of  Pennsylvania  for  all  time  to  come,  that  any  practitioner 
of  the  law,  or  other  officer  or  person,  whatsoever,  professing  him- 
self to  be  one  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  may,  and  shall  be 
admitted,  if  they  so  think  fit,  to  speak  or  otherwise  officiate  or 
apply   themselves  decently   unto   the   said  court   without  being 


A   STUDY  IN   C08TVME.  81 

obliged  to  observe  the  usual  ceremony  of  uncovering  their  heads, 
by  having  their  hats  taken  off.  And  such  privilege,  hereby  or- 
dered and  granted  to  the  people  called  Quakers,  shall  at  no  time 
hereafter  be  understood  or  interpreted  as  any  contempt  or 
neglect  of  said  Court;  and  shall  be  taken  only  as  an  act  of  con- 
scientious liberty,  of  right  appertaining  to  the  religious  persua- 
sion of  the  said  people,  and  agreeable  to  their  practice  in  all  civil 
affairs  of  hfe.  ^^  g^^  William  Keith,  Chancellor.* 

The  refusal  of  Fox  and  his  contemporaries  to  remove 
their  hats  before  Justices,  etc.,  had  not  been  a  new 
thing  in  England.  In  Bishop  Aylmer's  time  "  there 
were  a  sort  of  people  who  counted  it  idolatry  to  pull  off 
their  hat  or  give  reverence,  even  to  princes."  f  These 
were  probably  a  sect  of  the  Anabaptists.  Aylmer  was 
Bishop  of  London  between  1578  and  1594.  The  Ger- 
man Baptists  refused  the  customary  greetings. 

This  method  of  protest  had  been  in  use  among  other 
dissenters  also,  as  the  following  instance  from  New 
England  will  serve  to  illustrate : 

William  Witter,  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  was  an  aged  Baptist, 
who  had  already  been  prosecuted  by  the  Puritans;  but  in  1651, 
being  blind  and  infirm,  he  asked  the  Newport  church  to  send 
some  of  the  brethren  to  him,  to  administer  the  communion,  for 
he  found  himself  alone  in  Massachusetts.  Accordingly,  John 
Clark  (the  pastor)  undertook  the  mission,  accompanied  by 
Obadiah  Holmes  and  John  Crandall. 

They  reached  Lynn  on  Saturday,  July  19,  1651,  and  on  Sunday 
staid  within  doors,  in  order  not  to  disturb  the  congregation.  A 
few  friends  were  present,  and  Clark  was  in  the  midst  of  a  ser- 
mon, when  the  house  was  entered  by  two  constables  with  a  war- 
rant signed  by  Robert  Bridges,  commanding  them  to  arrest  cer- 
tain "  erroneous  persons  being  strangers."  The  travellers  were 
at  once  seized  and  carried  to  the  tavern,  and  after  dinner  they 
were  told   that   they  must  go   to   church.  .  .  .  The  unfortunate 

*  Michener,  "  Retrospect  of  Early  Quakerism,"  p.  368. 
t Robert  Barclay,    "Inner  Life   of  the  Religious  Societies  of  the 
Commonwealth,"  p.  501. 


82  THE    QUAKER. 

Baptists  remonstrated,  saying  that  were  they  forced  into  ths 
meeting  house,  they  should  be  obliged  to  dissent  from  the  ser- 
vice, but  this  the  constable  said,  was  nothing  to  him,  and  so 
he  carried  them  away.  On  entering,  during  the  prayer,  the 
prisoners  took  off  their  hats,  but  presently  put  them  on  again 
and  began  reading  in  their  seats.  Whereupon  Bridges  ordered 
the  officers  to  uncover  their  heads,  which  was  done,  and  the  ser- 
vice was  then  quietly  finished.  When  all  was  over,  Clark  asked 
leave  to  speak,  which,  after  some  hesitation,  was  granted,  on 
condition  he  would  not  discuss  what  he  had  heard.  He  began 
to  explain  how  he  had  put  on  his  hat  because  he  could  not 
judge  that  they  were  gathered  according  to  the  visible  order  of 
the  Lord;  but  here  he  was  silenced,  and  the  three  committed  to 
custody  for  the  night.* 

After  a  violent  struggle,  the  ministers  under  John  Norton's 
lead  succeeded,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1658,  in  forcing  the 
capital  act  through  the  Legislature,  which  contained  a  clause 
making  the  denial  of  reverence  to  Superiors,  or  in  other  words, 
wearing  the  hat,  evidence  of  Quakerism.^ 

This  was  at  the  time  of  the  famous  trial  of  the  South- 
wicks. 

We  are  told  of  four  Quakers,  who,  on  the  27th  of 
Eighth  month,  1658,  at  Boston,  were  brought  before 
the  General  Court.  Thej  were  Samuel  Shattuck, 
'N.  Phelps,  Joshua  Buffum,  and  Ann  j^eedham.  George 
Bishop's  account  of  their  case  as  he  addressed  that 
Court  is  as  follows: 

They  answered  that  they  intended  no  Offense  to  you  in  com- 
ing thither  (for  they  must  come  to  you  in  their  clothes,  if  they 
come  decently,  of  which  the  hat  is  part)  for  it  was  not  their 
Manner  to  have  to  do  with  Courts.  And  as  for  withdrawing 
from  the  Meetings,  or  keeping  on  their  Hats,  or  doing  anything 
in  Contempt  of  them  or  their  Laws,  they  said,  the  Lord  was 
their  Witness  (as  he  is)  that  they  did  it  not.  So  ye  rose  up 
and  bid  the  Jaylor  take  them  away.| 

The  Puritan  minister,  John  Wilson,  at    the    hanging    of    the 

*  Brooks  Adams,  "  The  Emancipation  of  Massachusetts,"  p.  111. 

tibid.,  p.  170. 

J  George  Bishop,  "  New  England  Judged,"  p.  85. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  83 

Quaker,  William  Robinson,  on  Boston  Common,  in  1659,  said  to 
the  Quakers  present,  "  Shall  such  Jacks  as  you  come  in  before 
Authority  with  your  Hats  on  ? "  To  which  Robinson  replied, 
"  Mnd  you,  mind  you,  it  is  for  not  putting  off  the  Hat  we  are 
put  to  Death.* 

Later  on,  the  usual  fine  for  keeping  on  the  hat  seems 
to  have  been  twenty  shillings. 

The  long  hair  of  the  Quakers  was  an  offence  to  the 
Puritans  of  Massachusetts,  as  well  as  to  those  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Edward  Wharton  was  a 
"  turbulent  Quaker,"  whose  persecutions  were  related 
by  George  Bishop, f  in  reply  to  his  inquiry  of  the  Bos- 
ton judges: 

"  Wherefore  have  I  been  fetch'd  from  my  Habitation,  where 
I  was  following  my  honest  Calling,  and  here  laid  up  as  an  Evil- 
Doer  ?"  "Your  Hair  is  too  long  (reply'd  you),  and  you  are 
disobedient  to  that  Commandment  which  saith,  '  Honour  thy 
Father  and  Mother.' "  To  which  said  Edward,  "  Wherein  ? " 
"In  that  you  will  not  put  off  your  Hat,  (said  you)  before  the 
Magistrates." 

The  same  Wharton,  with  four  other  Quakers,  was 
brought  before  the  General  Court,  Boston,  3  mo.,  1665. 
Their  hats,  (the  great  offence),  were  commanded  to  be  taken 
off,  and  thrown  on  the  Ground;  which,  being  done,  Mary  Tomkina 
set  her  foot  upon  one  of  the  Hats,  and  calling  to  you  said,  "  See, 
I  have  your  Honour  under  my  Feet."  Whereupon  you  demanded 
of  her  where  her  habitation  was?  She  answered,  "  My  Habitation 
is  in  the  Lord."  + 

A  feeling  of  irritation  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at 
on  the  part  of  any  judge  who  got  no  more  direct  reply 
from  a  prisoner  than  that  of  Mary  Tomkins.  But  this 
was  a  trifling  matter;  for  to  bluff  and  confound  the  Jus- 

*  George  Bishop,  "  New  England  Judged,"  p.  124. 
tibid.,  p.  304.     See  also  Brooks  Adams,   "  The  Emancipation  of 
Massacliusetts,"  p.  151. 
flbid.,  p.  460. 


84  TEE   QUAKER. 

tice  was  the  proper  method  employed  by  all  men  in  the 
English  Courts  of  Law  in  that  day,  when  literature 
shared  in  the  involved  style  of  intercourse  and  address, 
then  universal.  "  Turbulent "  was  a  term  applied  to 
these  early  Quakers  by  their  contemporaries,  and,  in- 
deed, by  some  of  those  contemporaries'  descendants, 
who  inherit  still  the  old  persecuting  spirit. 

Thomas  Ell  wood  in  1660,  when,  as  a  youth,  he  was 
undergoing  much  for  the  sake  of  his  hat,  gives  us  a 
description  of  his  costume  that  is  most  interesting  to  us 
now.    He  says: 

While  I  was  in  London,  I  went  to  a  little  meeting  of  Friends, 
which  was  then  held  in  the  House  of  one  Humphrey  Bache,  a 
Goldsmith,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Snail,  in  Tower  Street.  It  was 
then  a  very  troublesome  time,  not  from  the  Government,  but 
from  the  Rabble  of  Boys  and  Rude  People,  who,  upon  the  turn 
of  the  Times,  (upon  the  return  of  the  King)  took  Liberty  to  be 
very  abusive. 

When  the  Meeting  ended,  a  pretty  Number  of  these  unruly 
Folk  were  got  together  at  the  Door,  ready  to  receive  the  Friends 
as  they  came  forth  not  only  with  evil  Words,  but  with  Blows. 
.  .  .  But  quite  contrary  to  my  Expectation,  when  I  came  out, 
they  said  one  to  another^  "  Let  him  alone ;  don't  meddle  with 
him;  he  is  no  Quaker,  Fll  warrant  you." 

I  was  troubled  to  think  what  the  Matter  was,  or  what  these 
rude  People  saw  in  me,  that  made  them  not  take  me  for  a 
Quaker.  And  upon  a  close  examination  of  myself,  with  respect 
to  my  Habit  and  Deportment,  I  could  not  find  anything  to  place 
it  on,  but  that  I  had  then  on  my  Head  a  large  Mountier  Cap  of 
black  Velvet,  the  Skirt  of  which  being  turned  up  in  Folds,  looked 
(it  seems),  somewhat  above  the  common  Garb  of  a  Quaker;  and 
this  put  me  out  of  Conceit  of  my  Cap. 

Not  long  after  this  he  writes : 

When  a  young  Priest,  who,  as  I  understood,  was  Chap- 
lain in  (a  certain)  family,  took  upon  him  pragmatically  to  re- 
prove me  for  standing  with  my  Hat  on  before  the  Magistrates, 
and  snatch'd  my  Cap  from  oflF  my  Head,  Knowles   (the  Deputy- 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  85 

Lieutenant)  in  a  pleasant  manner  corrected  him,  telling  him  he 
mistook  himself  in  taking  a  Cap  for  a  Hat  (for  mine  was  a 
Mountier-Cap)  and  bid  him  give  it  me  again;  which  he  (though 
unwillingly)  doing,  I  forthwith  put  it  on  my  Head  again,  and 
thenceforward  none  meddled  with  me  about  it. 

Again,  he  adds: 

I  had  in  my  hand  a  little  Walking-Stick  with  a  Head  on  it. 
which  he  took  out  of  my  Hand  to  look  on  it;  but  I  saw  his  In- 
tention was  to  search  it,  whether  it  had  a  Tuck  in  it  [sword] 
for  he  tried  to  have  drawn  the  Head;  but  when  he  found  it  was 
Fast,  he  returned  it  to  me. 

The  violent  antipathy  of  Thomas  Ellwood's  father  to 
any  Quaker  who  refused  to  remove  his  hat  in  his  pres- 
ence, caused  his  son  many  painful  scenes  with  the 
worthy  squire,  and  an  alienation  that  was  a  grief  to 
both.  One  of  these  occasions  is  thus  described  by  Ell- 
wood: 

The  sight  of  my  hat  upon  my  head  .  .  .  (made)  .  .  .  his  pas- 
sion of  grief  turn  to  anger;  he  could  not  contain  himself;  but 
running  upon  me  with  both  hands,  first  violently  snatcht  off  ray 
Hat  and  threw  it  away;  and  then  giving  me  some  buffets  on  the 
head  he  said,  "  Sirrah,  get  you  up  to  your  chamber."  ...  I  had 
now  lost  one  of  my  hats,  and  I  had  but  one  more.  That  there- 
fore, I  put  on,  but  did  not  keep  it  long;  for  the  next  Time  my 
Father  saw  it  on  my  Head,  he  tore  it  violently  from  me,  and  laid 
it  up  with  the  other,  I  knew  not  where.  Wherefore  I  put  on  my 
Mountier-Cap,  which  was  all  I  had  left  to  wear  on  my  head,  and 
it  was  but  a  very  little  while  that  I  had  that  to  wear,  for  as 
soon  as  my  Father  came  where  I  was,  I  lost  that  also.  And  now 
I  was  forced  to  go  bareheaded  wherever  I  had  Occasion  to  go, 
within  Doors  and  without.*  .  .  . 

The  day  that  I  came  home  I  did  not  see  my  Father,  nor  untU 
noon  the  next  Day,  when  I  went  into  the  Parlour  where  he  was, 
to  take  my  usual  Place  at  Dinner.  As  soon  as  I  came  in,  I  ob- 
served by  my  Father's  Countenance,  that  my  Hat  was  still  an 
Offence  to  him;  but  when  I  was  sitten  down,  and  before  I  had 

»  "  The  History  of  the  Life  of  Thomas  EUwood,"  by  Himself;  pp.  50- 
2,3d  ed.    1765. 


86  THE   QUAKER. 

eaten  anything,  he  made  me  understand  it  more  fully,  by  say- 
ing to  me,  but  in  a  milder  Tone  than  he  had  formerly  used  to 
speak  to  me  in,  "  If  you  cannot  content  yourself  to  come  to  Din- 
ner without  your  Hive  upon  your  Head  [so  he  called  my  Hat], 
pray  rise  and  go  take  your  Dinner  some  where  else."  Upon 
those  words,  I  arose  from  the  Table,  and  leaving  the  Room,  went 
into  the  Kitchen,  where  I  staid  till  the  Servants  went  to  Din- 
ner, and  then  sate  down  very  contentedly  with  them.  .  .  .  And 
from  this  time  he  rather  chose,  as  I  thought,  to  avoid  seeing  me, 
than  to  renew  the  Quarrel  about  the  Hat.* 

It  appears  that  many  wore  caps  and  other  varieties 
of  head  dress  at  first  among  the  Friends,  for  the  broad- 
brim was  only  just  becoming  sufiiciently  popular  to  be 
safely  adopted  by  them  mthout  any  risk  of  seeming 
too  much  in  the  mode.  Moreover,  they  were  all  too 
much  engaged  in  preaching  and  in  ministering  to  their 
brethren  who  were  in  suffering  from  present  or  past 
imprisonments,  to  devote  much  time  to  dress,  and  each 
wore  what  best  suited  his  purse  and  convenience.  This 
is  fully  demonstrated  in  a  charming  little  incident  re- 
lated by  Ellwood,  who  met  the  great  young  missionary, 
Edward  Burrough,  on  his  w^ay  to  Oxford.  Burrough 
v.'as  one  of  the  early  Quaker  martyrs,  dying  in  a  foul 
prison  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight. 

When  I  was  come  within  a  mile  or  so  of  the  city  (Oxford), 
whom  should  I  meet  upon  the  way,  coming  from  thence,  but  Ed- 
ward Burroiigh!  I  rode  in  a  Mountier  (montero)  cap  (a  dress 
more  used  then  than  now),  and  so  did  he;  and  because  the 
weather  was  exceeding  sharp,  we  both  had  drawn  our  caps  down, 
to  shelter  our  Faces  from  the  Cold,  and  by  that  means  neither 
of  us  knew  the  other,  but  passed  by  without  taking  notice  one 
of  the  other  till  a  few  Days  after,  meeting  again,  and  observ- 
ing each  other's  dress,  we  recollected  where  we  had  so  lately 
met.f 

*  "  The  History  of  the  Life  of  Thomas  Ellwood,"  by  Himself;  p.  68. 
tlbid.,p.  31. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  87 

This  was  in  the  year  1659.  The  Century  Dictionary 
defines  a  montero  cap  as  derived  from  the  Spanish 
''  Montero,  a  hunter,"  and  describes  it  as  "  a  horse- 
man's or  huntsman's  cap,  having  a  round  crown  with 
flaps  which  could  be  drawn  down  over  the  sides  of  the 
face."  * 

But  the  cap,  as  time  went  on,  had  to  be  given  up,  for 
it  was  not  very  long  before  the  broad-brim  became 
unfashionable,  and  then  it  grew  to  be  the  distinctive 
mark  of  the  Quaker.  His  following  was  so  large  that 
the  hat  became  the  badge  of  Quakerism  wherever  he 
went. 

Thomas  Story,  the  famous  Quaker  traveler  and 
preacher,  who  became  a  member  of  Penn's  Council  of 
State,  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  Commissioner  of  Claims 
in  Pennsylvania,  describes  graphically  in  his  Journal 
the  sufferings  he  endured  as  a  young  man  on  the  subject 
of  the  hat ;  his  treatment  by  his  father  was  quite  similar 
to  that  of  Penn  and  Ellwood.  All  three  were  brought 
up  as  refined  young  men,  carefully  instructed  by 
solicitous  parents  in  all  the  airs  and  graces  of  polite  so- 
ciety when  it  demanded  far  more  formality  and  elabora- 
tion of  manner  than  these  busy,  telephonic  times  will 
now  permit  their  descendants.  He  tells  us  that  in 
1691  he  was  invited  to  meet  some  gentlemen  at  a  tav- 
ern, and  says: 

I  was  not  hasty  to  go,  looking  for  the  Countenance  of  the 
Lord  therein,  neither  did  I  refuse;  but  my  Father  &  some  others, 
being  impatient  to  have  me  among  them,  came  likewise  to  me. 
I  arose  from  my  seat  when  they  came  in,  but  did  not  move  my 

*"His  hat  was  like  a  Helmet,  or  Spanish  Montero,"  (Bacon). 
Evelyn's  "  Tyrannas  "  calls  the  Montero  "  light  and  serviceable  when  the 
8un  is  hot,  and  at  other  times  ornamental." 


38  THE   QUAKER. 

Hat  to  them  as  they  to  me.  Upon  which  my  Father  fell  a  weep- 
ing and  said,  I  did  not  use  to  behave  so  to  him.  I  intreated 
him  not  to  resent  it  as  a  Fault,  for  Tho'  I  now  thought  fit  to 
decline  that  Ceremony,  it  was  not  in  Disobedience,  or  Disrespect 
to  him  or  them;  for  I  honoured  him  as  much  as  ever,  and  de- 
sired he  would  please  to  think  so,  notwithstanding  exterior 
Alteration.* 

Of  course  it  is  possible  to  multiply  indefinitely  inci- 
dents that  show  the  struggles  of  the  spirit  in  terms  of 
the  hat.  This  affected  even  political  questions,  as  well 
as  those  social  and  religious ;  yet  no  more  innocent  body 
of  people  ever  walked  the  earth  than  they  under  the 
broad-brims.  In  1801  Richard  Jordan,  a  well-known 
American  minister  of  the  Society,  was  traveling  on  the 
Continent  with  Abraham  Barker,  a  Friend  from  New 
Bedford,  Massachusetts,  and  the  party  arrived  in  Paris. 
Richard  Jordan  mentions  the  following  incident  in  his 
Journal : 

It  may  not  perhaps  be  amiss  to  mention  how  we  were  treated 
at  the  municipality,  where  we  attended  to  present  our  passports. 
We  were  stopped  by  the  guards,  who  had  strict  orders,  it  seems, 
not  to  suffer  any  man  to  pass  unless  he  had  what  is  called  a 
cockade  in  his  hat,  but  on  our  desiring  our  guide  to  step  for- 
ward and  inform  the  Officers  that  we  were  of  the  people  called 
Quakers,  and  that  our  not  observing  those  signs  of  the  times 
was  not  in  contempt  of  authority,  or  disrespect  to  any  office, 
but  from  a  religious  scruple  in  our  minds, — it  being  the  same 
with  us  in  our  own  country — they  readily  accepted  our  reasons; 
and  one  of  the  officers  came  and  took  us  by  the  guards,  and  so 
up  into  the  chamber,  where  we  were  suffered  to  remain  quietly 
with  our  hats  on,  until  our  passports  were  examined  by  two 
officers,  and  again  endorsed  under  the  seal  of  the  republic,  per- 
mitting us  to  go  to  Calvisson,  in  Languedoc.  Thus  it  often  ap- 
pears to  me  that  we  make  our  way  better  in  the  minds  of  the 

*Thomas  Story,  Journal,  p.  40.     (Folio  ed.) 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  89 

people  when  we  keep  strictly  to  our  religious  profession,  in  all 
countries  and  among  all  sorts  of  persons.* 

Joseph  John  Gurne  j  relates  his  own  experience  upon 
the  first  occasion  that  his  Quakerism  affected  his  hat. 
The  step  was  very  marked  for  one  who  had  not  pre- 
viously been  a  pronounced  Friend,  and  who  was  so 
much  in  the  midst  of  worldly  interests  as  were  all  the 
Gurneys.     He  says: 

I  was  engaged  long  beforehand  to  a  dinner  party.  For  three 
weeks  before  I  was  in  agitation  from  the  knowledge  that  I  must 
enter  the  drawing-room  with  my  hat  on.  From  this  sacrifice, 
Btrange  and  unaccountable  as  it  may  seem,  I  could  not  escape. 
In  a  Friend's  attire  and  with  my  hat  on,  I  entered  the  drawing- 
room  at  the  dreaded  moment,  shook  hands  with  the  mistress  o£ 
the  house,  went  back  into  the  hall,  deposited  my  hat,  and  re- 
turned home  in  some  degree  of  peace.  I  had  afterward  the 
same  thing  to  do  at  the  Bishop's.  The  result  was  that  I  found 
myself  a  decided  Quaker,  was  perfectly  understood  to  have  as- 
sumed that  character,  and  to  dinner  parties,  except  in  the  family 
circle,  I  was  asked  no  more. 

This  was  in  1810,  when  the  Quaker  "  testimony  " 
had  become  but  an  eccentricity  to  the  world,  which 
chose  to  laugh  rather  than  make  it  a  cause  for  persecu- 
tion. Samuel  Gurney  and  his  brother  Joseph  John 
possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  physical  beauty 
that  so  distinguished  the  family,  and  the  black  velvet 
cap  worn  in  later  life  by  the  latter  over  his  beautiful 
hair,  then  gromng  gray,  gave  him  the  air  of  a  fine  old 
Roman  Catholic  Archbishop. 

It  was  no  easy  matter  for  the  Quakers  at  any  period 
thus  to  mortify  the  flesh,  and  Barclay  says  for  himself 
and  all  his  brethren: 

*  Richard  Jordan,  Journal,  p.  106. 


90 


THE   QUAKER. 


This  I  can  sty  boldly  in  the  sight  of  God,  from  my  own  ex- 
perience &  that  of  many  thousands  more,  that  however  small  or 
foolish  this  may  seem,  yet  we  behooved  to  suffer  death  rather 
than  do  it,  [i.e.,  remove  the  hat]  and  that  for  conscience'  sake; 
and  that,  in  its  being  so  contrary  to  our  natural  spirits,  there 
are  many  of  us  to  whom  the  forsaking  of  these  bowings  and  cere- 
monies was  as  death  itself;  which  we  could  never  have  left  if 
we  could  have  enjoyed  our  peace  with  God  in  the  use  of  them. 


Royalist  Hat,  time  of  Commonwealth. 
(After  Martin.) 


CHAPTER  III. 

BEARDS,    WIGS    AND    BANDS 


Now  a  beard  is  a  thing  that  commands  in  a  King 

Be  his  sceptres  never  so  fair  ; 
Where  the  beard  bears  the  sway,  the  people  obey, 

And  are  subject  to  a  hair. 

Now  of  the  beards  there  be  such  a  company, 

And  fashions  such  a  throng, 
That  it  is  very  hard  to  handle  a  beard, 

Tho'  it  be  never  so  long. 

Ballad  of  the  Beard,  Temp.  Ch.  I, 


CHAPTER   III. 


BEARDS,    WIGS    AND    BANDS. 


T  happened  that  Quaker  customs  be- 
gan to  crystallize  at  a  time  when 
smooth  faces   were  universal;    and 
to  this  accident  is  due  their  later 
"  testimony  "  against  beards,  which 
would   have   been   quite    as   strong 
against  the  practice  of  shaving  olf 
a  natural  adornment  had  the  sect 
arisen   a    century   earlier.     It  was  noted  by  the  early 
historian  Sewel,  as  one  of  John  Perot's  "  extravagant 
steps,"  that  he  had  allowed  his  beard  to  grow!     Por- 
traits of  James  Nayler,  the  "  Apostate,"  show  him  in  a 
full  pointed  beard;   and   there   are  also   prints  of  the 
early  Quaker  preachers  with  flowing  beards,  but  they 
are  conspicuous  exceptions.     The  full  beard  of  Henry 
IV.  had  by  1628  become  the  pointed  beard.    Quicherat 
states  as  the  origin  of  the  smooth  face  the  sportive 
order  of  Louis  XIII.  to  his  courtiers  to  cut  off  all  the 
beard,  leaving  only  a  small  tuft  on  the  chin.*  The  Rus- 
sians were  conspicuous  exceptions  to  this  fashion;  and 
Evelyn,  under   date    24   October,  1681,  writes   of  the 
Russian  Ambassador  at  the  court  of  St.  James :  "  'Twas 
reported  of  him  he  condemned  his  sonn  to  lose  his  head 


*  The  following  verse  celebrates  this  : 

"  Helas  !    Ma  pauvre  barbe, 
Qu'est-ce  qui  t'a  faite  ainsi? 
C'est  le  grand  roy  Louis, 
TreiziSme  de  se  nom, 
Qui  toute  a  Csbarbe  sa  maison." 


94  TEE   QUAKER. 

for  shaving  off  his  beard  and  putting  himseKe  in  ye 
Trench  fashion  at  Paris,  and  that  he  would  have  exe- 
cuted it  had  not  the  French  King  interceded." 

The  beard  disappeared  when  the  ruff  went  out,  and 
smooth  faces  are  associated  with  the  time  of  the  early 
Quakers,  and  the  reign  of  the  Stuarts.  The  moustache 
was  not  then  fashionable,  hence  that  military  append- 
age did  not  have  occasion  to  meet  the  disapproval  of 
the  Quakers  until  long  after;  and  I  have  nowhere  found 
any  notice  taken  of  the  moustache  in  any  meeting  so 
far.  Early  in  the  present  century  an  English  fashion 
book  remarks:  "Young  bucks  have  mounted  the 
'Jewish  mustachio  '  on  the  upper  lip."  Parton  says: 
*'  It  is  hard  to  believe  in  the  soundness  of  a  person's 
judgment  who  turns  his  collar  down,  when  every  one 
turns  it  up,  or  who  allows  his  hair  to  grow  long,  when 
the  rest  of  mankind  wear  theirs  short."  *  Even  more 
attention  has  been  paid  to  the  morality,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  hair,  than  to  that  of  the  beard.  Political  opinions 
expressed  themselves  with  the  revolutionary  party  in 
England  in  the  short  hair  of  the  Roundheads.  The 
Puritans,  therefore,  are  to  be  foimd  with  short  locks, 
making  religious  capital  out  of  what  were  really  their 
political  sympathies.  The  early  Quakers,  always  con- 
servative, and  never,  like  the  Irish,  "  agin  the  Govern- 
ment," wore  the  long  hair  of  the  Royalists  (as  did  the 
French)  for  some  years  for  fear  of  resemblance  to 
the  rebels.  A  notice  published  in  1698  mentions  a 
delinquent  Quaker  "  wearing  his  own  hair  straight 
and  lank."  The  Germans  wore"  unkempt  beards 
and     moustaches.     The     clergy,     like     the     Quakers. 

*  James  Parton,  "  The  Clothes  Mania." 


A    STUDY   IX   COSTUME.  95 

have  always  been  rigid  in  their  ideas  of  dress,  and  even 
in  the  time  of  Stephen  did  not  wear  long  hair  or 
beards.  Wigs,  also,  which  appeared  for  a  short  time 
then,  were  later  condemned,  along  with  flowing  locks. 
By  14S7  they  were  wearing  long  beards,  as  in  earlier 
times,  but  they  were  condemned  for  wearing  long  hair, 
and  charged  to  cut  it  "  short  enough  to  show  the  ears." 
Carefully  curled  and  powdered  hair  was  the  forerunner 
of  the  periwig.  The  clergy  held  out  longest  against 
adopting  it,  and  were  the  last  to  discard  it,  except  pro- 
fessors of  the  law.  The  first  cleric  to  wear  an  official 
wig  was  Archbishop  Tillotson,  in  the  reign  of  James  II. 
Once  introduced,  the  wig  was  worn  until  the  time  of 
the  French  Revolution,  just  before  which  a  fine  wig 
cost  thirty  to  forty  guineas.  Bishop  Blomfield  first  set 
the  example  of  wearing  his  own  hair.  Archbishop 
Sumner  wore  a  Avig  so  late  as  1858,  at  the  wedding  of 
the  Princess  Royal.  The  church  has  now  discarded  the 
wig  entirely,  while  the  law  is  the  only  profession  that 
retains  it.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  is 
most  imposing  in  a  full-bottomed  wig,  while  short  wigs 
are  worn  bv  ludiies  and  barristers.  The  court  coach- 
men  and  some  of  the  servants  of  the  nobility  still  wear 
the  wig  as  a  part  of  the  livery. 

King  Charles  the  Second,  lax  as  he  was  in  his  own 
person  and  costume,  and  wearing  perhaps  the  heaviest 
periwig  in  the  realm,  had,  nevertheless,  certain  notions 
of  what  was  befitting  the  clergy.    We  read  : 

A  letter  was  written  by  [him]  to  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
forbidding  its  members  to  wear  periwigs,  smoke  tobacco,  or  read 
their  sermons;  and  when  he  was  at  Newmarket,  Nathaniel  Vin- 
cent, Doctor  of  DiA-inity,  Fellow  of  Clare  Hall,  and  Chaplain  to 
his  Majesty,  preached  before  him  in  a  long  periwig  and  Holland 


96  THE    QUAKER. 

sleeves,  according  to  the  fashion  in  use  among  gentlemen  at  that 
time.  This  foppery  displeased  the  King,  who  commanded  the 
Duke  of  Monmouth,  then  Chancellor  of  the  University,  to  cause 
the  statutes  concerning  decency  of  apparel  to  be  put  in  execu- 
tion, which  was  accordingly  done.* 

Thomas  Story,  the  well-known  Quaker  preacher  and 
traveler,  relates  f  the  following  that  was  told  him  of 
Peter  the  Great,  after  that  monarch  had  attended  a 
Meeting  of  the  Quakers  at  Friedrichstadt  (Holstein)  in 
1712.  The  Czar  was  at  one  time  attending  a  meeting 
held  in  a  Dutch  market  place : 

Being  rainy  Weather,  when  they  were  at  it,  the  Czar  wear- 
ing his  own  Hair,  pulled  off  the  great  Wigg  from  one  of  his 
Dukes,  and  put  it  on  himself,  to  Cover  him  from  the  Eain,  mak- 
ing the  owner  stand  bareheaded  the  while,  for  it  seems  he  is  so 
absolute,  that  there  must  be  no  grumbling  at  what  he  does,  Life 
and  Estate  being  wholly  at  his  Discretion. 

The  portraits  of  George  Fox  show  him  with  long 
locks,  reaching  to  the  shoulder,  but  he  never  wore  a 
wig;  while  on  the  contrary,  William  Penn  wore  as 
many  as  four  in  one  year.  On  the  subject  of  his  own 
long  hair.  Fox  speaks  occasionally  in  his  Journal.  In 
1655,  when  before  Major  Ceely,  during  a  journey  into 
Cornwall,  he  says  of  the  Major: 

He  had  with  him  a  silly  young  priest,  who  asked  us  many 
frivolous  questions;  amongst  the  rest,  he  desired  to  cut  my  hair 
which  was  then  pretty  long;  but  I  was  not  to  cut  it,  though 
many  were  ofi'ended  at  it.  I  told  them  I  had  no  pride  in  it,  and 
it  was  not  of  my  own  putting  on. 

A  few  months  later,  at  Bristol,  when  Fox  stood  in  the 
orchard  that  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  meeting 
place  for  both  Baptists  and  Quakers,  addressing  some 
thousands  of  people  from  the  great  stone  that  did  duty 

*  "  The  Book  of  Costume,  By  A  Lady  of  Quality."    London,  1846. 
t Thomas  Story,  Journal,  p.  496.     (Folio.) 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  97 

as  a  pulpit,  a  certain  "  rude,  jangling  Baptist  "  began  to 
find  fault  with  Fox's  long  hair ;  but,  he  adds,  "  I  paid 
nothing  to  him."  The  following  year,  in  Wales  (1657), 
Fox's  Journal  records: 

Next  morning  one  called  a  Lady  sent  for  me,  who  kept  a 
preacher  in  her  house,  but  I  found  both  her  and  her  preacher 
very  light  and  airy ;  too  light  to  receive  the  weighty  things  of 
God.  In  her  lightness  she  came  and  asked  me,  "  If  she  should 
cut  my  hair  ?  "  I  was  moved  to  reprove  her,  and  bid  her  cut 
down  the  corruptions  in  herself  with  the  sword  of  the  spirit  of 
God;  so  after  I  had  admonished  her  to  be  more  grave  and  sober, 
we  passed  away.  Afterward  in  her  frothy  mind,  she  made  her 
boast  that  she  "  came  up  behind  me  and  cut  off  the  curl  of  my 
hair";  but  she  spoke  falsely. 

The  fascinations  of  the  wig  proved  too  much  for  the 
other  Quakers,  however,  and  it  soon  became  quite  gen- 
eral among  them,  as  the  records  of  many  old  meetings 
testify.  In  1698  periwigs  on  men  and  high  headdresses 
on  women  are  condemned.  By  1717  so  great  a  declen- 
sion in  plainness  of  dress  had  taken  place,  that  a  paper 
on  "  Pride,  Plainness  of  Dress,"  etc.,  was  issued  by 
London  Quarterly  Meeting.  This  document  inveighs 
against  "  men's  extravagant  Wigs  and  wearing  the  hair 
in  a  beauish  manner  ";  it  grants  that  "  modest,  decent 
or  necessary  (!)  "  wigs  might  be  allowed;  but  prevail- 
ing modes  are  condemned.  Some  of  the  old  Friends, 
in  1715,  mourned,  with  good  reason,  we  should  think, 
that  "  some  of  the  young  people  cut  off  good  heads  of 
hair  to  put  on  long  extravagant,  gay  wigs."  The  peri- 
wig— "  falbala,"  or  "  furbelow,"  the  dress  wig  of  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne — was  the  culmination  of  the  art 
of  dress  in  the  life  time  of  the  second  generation  of 
Quakers.  Ashton  tells  us  that  it  was  the  invention  of  a 
French  courtier  to  conceal  a  defect  in  the  shoulders  of 


98  THE   QUAKER. 

the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Its  use  spread  all  over  Europe, 
and  came  to  America.  The  true  antiquarian  holds 
everything  worth  preserving  merely  because  it  has 
heen  preserved.  Hence  we  are  blessed  with  the  long 
list  of  the  Kings'  fools  of  old  times,  and  among  them  we 
find  that  of  Saxton,  the  Court  fool  of  Henry  VIII., 
who  is  the  first  person  in  modern  England  recorded  to 
have  worn  a  wig.  In  an  account  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
King's  Chambers  in  that  reign  is  the  entry:  "  Paid  for 
Saxton,  the  King's  fool,  for  a  wig,  20s."  * 

The  first  ofiicial  notice  to  be  found  of  the  wig 
among  the  early  Quakers  is  in  1691,  when  London  Six 
Weeks  Meeting  issued  a  "  testimony  "  against  "  those 
that  have  imitated  the  world,  whether  it  be  men,  in 
their  extravagant  periwigs,  or  modes  in  their  apparel; 
or  whether  it  be  women  in  their  high  towering  (head) 
dress,  gold  chains,  or  gaudy  attire;  or  whether  it  be 
parents,  like  old  Ely,  not  sufficiently  restraining  their 
children  therefrom;  ...  or  whether  it  be  in  volup- 
tuous feasting  without  fear,  or  costly  furnitures,  and 
too  rich  adorning  of  houses,"  etc.f 

The  "  Wigges  "  may  well  have  been  called  extrava- 
gant. An  advertisement  of  Queen  Anne's  time,  not 
many  years  before  this,  appeared  in  London,  to  the  ef- 
fect that  on  a  certain  public  coach,  "  Dancing  shoes  not 
exceeding  four  inches  in  height,  and  periwigs  not  ex- 
ceeding three  feet  ( !)  in  length,  are  carried  in  the  coach 
box  gratis  !  "  X  One  of  the  dangers  of  London  streets 
in  that  uncomfortable  period  of  their  history  has  been 
noticed  by  the  poet  Gay: 

♦Walpole,  "  Anecdotes  of  Painting"  ;  3d  ed.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  135. 
tBeck  and  Ball,  "  History  of  London  Friends'  Meetings,"  p.  117. 
t  Ashton,  "  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  p.  109. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


99 


You'll  sometimes  meet  a  fop  of  nicest  tread, 
Whose  mantling  peruke  veils  his  empty  head. 

Him,  like  the  miller,  pass  with  caution  by. 
Lest  from  his  shoulder  clouds  of  powder  fly. 

Nor  is  the  flaxen  wig  with  safety  worn; 
High  on  the  shoulder,  in  a  basket  borne. 
Lurks  the  sly  boy,  whose  hand  to  rapine  bred. 
Plucks  off  the  curling  honors  of  the  head.* 

The  wearing  of  wigs  among  the  Quakers  must  have 
been  much  more  common  than  has  been  supposed,  par- 
ticularly with  those  somewhat  fashionably  inclined,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  large  number  of  minutes  and 
other  papers  against  that  vanity,  as  well  as  the  many 
allusions  to  them  in  letters  of  an  early  date.  William 
Cookworthy  and  Doctors  Tother- 
gill  and  Lettsom  have  already  been 
instanced  in  describing  their 
cocked  hats.  William  Dillw^m, 
America  and  England, 
rather  smaller  wis  than 


in    both 

wears  a  ^ 

theirs. 

The  care  of  the  wig  was  a  seri- 
ous matter,  and  in  every  way  its 
use  was  in  direct  opposition  to 
Quaker  principles  of  moderation 
and  economy.  It  is  therefore  the 
more  striking  to  discover  how  uni- 


William  Dillwyn. 

1805. 


*"  Trivia."  The  "  Ladies' Answer  "  to  a  ballad  ridiculing  black 
hats  and  capuchins  (published  by  Percy  See,  Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  205), 
thus  remonstrated  with  the  men  : 

"  I  wonder  what  these  men  can  mean 
To  trouble  their  heads  with  our  capuchins? 

Let  'em  mind  their  ruffs  and  mufetees : 
Pray,  what  harm  in  our  black  hats  is  found. 
To  make  them  so  much  with  scandal  abound? 
Why  can  they  not  let  the  women  alone, 
When  idle  fashions  they  have  of  their  own  7 
With  ramelie  wigs  and  muffetees." 


100  THE   QUAKER. 

versallv  it  was  worn  b j  the  Friends,  completely  refuting 
Miss  Hill's  statement  that  the  Quakers  never  wore  wigs. 
For  a  time  it  was  not  considered  decent  or  respectable 
to  appear  in  public  without  one ;  and  the  Quakers  were 
really  less  conspicuous  by  yielding  to  public  opinion, 
than  if  they  had  opposed  it  more  strenuously.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  adoption  of  pantaloons,  the  pressure  of 
circumstances  was  too  much  for  them ;  although  we  find 
them  slow  to  adopt  the  wig,  and,  contrary  to  their  usual 
custom  in  matters  of  dress,  among  the  first  to  discard 
it.  The  wig  was  expensive,  demanding  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  money  in  its  proper  care;  it  was  heavy  and 
awkward,  and  very  messy  and  dirty,  particularly  when 
powdered;  and  the  periwig  in  the  hands  of  a  careless 
person  became  a  positive  source  of  danger.  What 
would  a  modern  Board  of  Health  have  said  to  Pepys' 
entry  in  his  Diary,  under  date  September  3d,  1665  ? 

Put  on  my  coloured  silk  suit  very  fine  and  my  new  periwigg, 
bought  a  good  while  since  but  durst  not  wear,  because  the  plague 
was  in  Westminster  when  I  bought  it.  It  is  a  wonder  what  will 
be  the  fashion  after  the  plague  is  done,  as  to  periwiggs,  for  no- 
body will  dare  to  buy  any  haire,  for  fear  of  the  infection,  that  it 
had  been  cut  off  of  the  heads  of  people  dead  of  the  plague. 

Foulis,  of  Ravelston,  Scotland,  in  1704,  pays  '"  for 
a  new  long  periwig,  7  guineas  and  a  halfe."  His  dress 
wig  costs  "  14,  6s."  Scots,  or  a  guinea;  a  new  hat,  7 
Scots;  a  bob-wig,  a  guinea.*  Allan  Ramsay,  the  poet, 
was  a  Jack-of-all-trades  as  well,  and  among  other 
things,  he  made  wigs  and  "  barberized  "  customers  in 
his  night-cap.  A  friend  of  his,  who  was  a  Scotch  judge, 
put  his  wig  in  a  sedan-chair  to  keep  it  dry  from  the 

*H.  G.  Graham,    "Social   Life    in   Scotland   in    the    Eighteenth 
Century." 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  IQI 

rain,  and  himself  quietly  walked  home.     The  umbrella 

was  still  in  the  future;  and   a   powdered   periwig  in  a 

hard   rain  meant  a  ruined  pocket  book,  and   a  head 

weighed  down  with  a  load  of  paste,  drying  into  a  mould 

of  plastered  hair !     Therefore  Gay's  timely  advice : 

When  suflFocating  mists  obscure  the  morn, 
Let  thy  worst  wig,  long  used  to  storms  be  worn; 
This  knows  the  powdered  footman,  and  with  care 
Beneath  his  flapping  hat  secures  his  hair.* 

The  "  wigge,"  however,  had  come  to  stay.  Through 
the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  prevailed.  The 
"  Ranelagh  Tail "'  was  the  beginning  of  the  end,  so  to 
speak,  toward  the  period  of  the  American  Revolution, 
as  is  seen  in  the  portraits  of  some  of  the  English  officers 
of  that  time;  the  Americans,  like  Washington,  usually 
preferring  to  wear  their  own  hair  tied  with  a  ribbon  in 
a  knot  behind,  and  occasionally  powdered;  the  fash- 
ionable use  of  powder  disappeared  about  1794. 
I^apoleon  wore  his  queue  and  "  cadenettes  "  in  the  cam- 
paign in  Italy,  sacrificing  both  in  Egypt,  where  he 
prided  himself  on  being  unique  among  his  Generals, 
who  flattered  his  fancied  resemblance,  with  short  hair, 
to  Titus.  The  "  cadenette  "  f  was  worn  well  over  the 
left  ear,  to  which  the  gallants  attached  a  large  jewel. 

*"  Trivia." 

t "  Cadenette."  So  called  from  Marechal  Cadenet,  of  France,  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  Century  Dictionary  defines  it  as  "  a  love- 
lock, or  tress  of  hair  worn  longer  than  the  others." 

"  L'ondoyant  et  venteux  pennache 
Donnant  du  galbe  a  ce  bravache, 
Un  long  flocon  de  poil  natte 
En  petits  anneaux  frisottes 
Pris  au  bout  de  tresse  vermeille 
Descendoit  de  sa  gauche  oreille."  * 


*  Quoted  by  Quioherat,  "  Hiatoire  do  Costume  en  France,"  p.  475. 


103  THE   QUAKER. 

This  may  be  seen  in  the  portrait  of  Charles  I.  in  the 
Louvre,  who  wears  a  large  pearl. 

The  English  ladies  wore  the  mg  devotedly,  probably 
for  the  same  good  reason  that  moved  Mrs.  Pepys.  Her 
husband  says  (March  13,  1665):  "  My  wife  began  to 
wear  light  locks,  white  almost,  which,  though  it  made 
her  look  very  pretty,  yet  not  being  natural,  vexes  me, 
that  I  will  not  have  her  wear  them."  After  the  Brigh- 
ton races,  the  bellman  once  gave  notice  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  that  place  that  a  lady  had  lost  a  wig  coming 
from  Broadwater.  A  reward  offered  brought  no  evi- 
dence of  it.  A  great  while  after  a  bird's  nest  was  dis- 
covered in  a  tree  by  some  boys,  who,  climbing  to  seize 
the  treasure,  were  surprised  to  find  the  lost  wig,  con- 
taining a  few  sticks,  and  the  maker's  name  intact.  We 
are  also  told  of  the  discovery  of  a  hedgehog's  nest  in  the 
lost  scratch  wig  of  a  toper,  who  dropped  it  along  the 
roadside !  Thomas  Ellwood  had  his  opinion  of  the 
women  who  wore  wigs,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express 
it  in  most  forcible,  if  not  melodious,  strains.  The  friend 
of  Milton  really  waxed  indignant: 

"  Some  Women  (Oh  the  Shame!)  like  ramping  Rigs, 
Ride  flaunting  in  their  powder'd  Perriwigs; 
Astride  they  sit  (and  not  ashamed  neither) 
Drest  up  like  men  in  Jacket,  Cap  and  Feather  !  "  * 

Lady  Suffolk  (Letters;  1728)  says: 

Mrs.  Beikeley  drives  herself  in  a  chair  in  a  morning  gown, 
with  a  white  apron,  a  white  handkerchief  pinned  under  her  head 
like  a  nun,  a  black  silk  over  that,  and  another  white  one  over  the 
hat! 

Nugent  (Travels;  1766)  describes  the  Duchess  of 
Mechlenburg-Schwerin  in  "  a  riding-habit,  with  a  bag- 

*Thos.  Ellwood,  "  Speculum  Seculi ;  era  Looking  Glass  for  the  Times." 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  103 

wig,  and  a  cocked  hat  and  a  feather."  He  several  times 
tells  us:     "  The  ladies  do  wear  hats  and  bag-wigs." 

The  "  Life  and  Actions  of  John  Everett  "  (1729-30), 
tells  us  that  "  The  Precisions  "  (as  he  calls  the  Quak- 
ers), "  for  the  most  part,  though  they  are  plain  in  their 
dress,  wear  the  best  of  commodities,  and  though  a  smart 
toupie  is  an  abomination,  jet  a  bob  or  a  natural  of  six 
or  seven  guineas'  price,  is  a  modest  covering  allowed  of 
bv  the  saints." 

It  is  probable  that  the  Quakers  affected  the  "  bob  " 
wig  chiefly.  This  style  of  wig  was  not  intended  for  full 
dress,  and  the  following  instance,  mentioned  by  Swift,* 
will  well  illustrate  the  distinctions  in  wig-wearing: 

As  Prince  Eugene  was  going  with  Mr.  Secretary  to  Court,  he 
told  the  Secretary  that  HoflFman,  the  Emperor's  resident,  said  to 
his  Highness  that  it  was  not  proper  to  go  to  Court  without  a 
long  wig,  and  his  was  only  a  tied  up  one.  "  Now,"  says  the 
Prince,  "  I  know  not  what  to  do,  for  I  never  had  a  long  periwig 
in  my  life;  and  I  have  sent  to  all  my  valets  and  footmen  to  see 
whether  any  of  them  have  one,  that  I  might  borrow  it,  but  none 
of  them  has  any."  But  the  Secretary  said  it  was  a  thing  of  no 
consequence,  and  only  observed  by  gentlemen  ushers. 

John  Byrom,  on  the  appearance  of  the  President  of  a 
Club  in  a  "  black  bob-wig  "  wrote: 

"A  phrensy?  or  a  periwigmanee. 
That  overruns  his  pericranie  ?  "  f 

The  father  of  Stephen  Grellet,  an  officer  in  the  court 
of  Louis  XVL,  wears  a  "  cauliflower  "  wig,  as  shown  in 
his  silhouette. 


*  Swift,  "  Journal  to  Stella,"  January  1, 1712. 

t  Leslie  Stephen,  "  Studies  of  a  Biographer,"  p.  91. 


104  TSE   QUAKER. 

The  American  Puritans  in  the  time  of  Charles  I., 
issued  a  manifesto  against  long  hair  in  their  colony, 
calling  it  "  an  impious  custom  and  a  shameful  practice 
for  anj  man  who  has  the  least  care  for  his  soul  to  wear 
long  hair."  They  enact  that  it  shall  be  cropped  and  not 
worn  in  churches  so  that  those  persons  who  persist  in 
this  custom  "  shall  have  both  God  and  man  at  the  same 
time  against  them."  *  The  Puritans  permitted  their 
people  to  wear  out  the  clothes  they  brought  with  them, 
after  which  the  sumptuary  laws  of  Massachusetts  went 
into  force.  These  ordered  that  no  slashed  clothes  were 
to  be  worn,  but  that  one  slash  in  each  sleeve  might  be 
permitted !  Beaver  hats  were  prohibited.  "  Immod- 
erate great  shoes  "  were  condemned,  and  four  years 
later  short  shoes  are  also  condemned  as  leading  to  "  the 
nourishing  of  pride  and  exhausting  men's  estate."  In 
1651  the  Government  was  solicitous  to  preserve  the  dis- 
tinctions of  rank;  men  must  not  be  too  richly  dressed, 
nor  wear  "  points  "  (ribbons  with  jeweled  ends  to  tie 
up  the  clothing,  often  very  gay)  at  the  knee.  Women 
with  an  income  under  two  hundred  pounds  were  not  to 
wear  silk  or  tiffany  hoods.  Long  hair  was  condemned 
by  the  Legislature,  and  by  the  Grand  Jury;  while  with 
a  curious  disregard  for  consistency,  the  women  were 
condemned  who  cut  and  curled  theirs.  Evidently  the 
modern  prejudice  against  long-haired  men  and  short- 
haired  women  is  not  so  new.  AVigs  also  fell  under  con- 
demnation, but  they  prevailed  by  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  despite  the  Fathers. 

The  sumptuary  laws  of  the  early  Massachusetts  col- 

*  See  also  "  Dialogue  between  Captain  Long-Haire  and  Captain  Short- 
Haire."  Brit.  Mus.  Harleian  MSS.  Pub.  by  Percy  Soc.  Vol.  XXVII., 
p.  170. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  105 

onists  are  much  like  the  orders  of  the  Quakers  to  their 
constituency  a  little  later.  What  must  be  emphasized 
all  through  this  study  of  the  Quaker  idea  of  dress  is  the 
fact  that  their  attention  to  plainness,  and  to  all  the  de- 
tails of  every  day  life,  was  a  natural  reaction  from  dog- 
matism, royal  prerogative  and  worldly  extravagance. 
It  was  by  no  means  a  characteristic  of  the  Quakers 
alone,  but  was  even  more  pronounced  among  the  Separ- 
atists, the  Mennonites,  and  the  Puritans;  and  of  the 
latter  body,  none  were  so  arbitrary  or  narrow 
as  those  who  sought  religious  freedom  in  America. 
This  is  not  the  place  for  large  quotations  from  the  laws 
of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  But  it  was  the  temper  of 
the  times  which  led  Puritan  and  Quaker  alike,  whether 
in  England,  Holland  or  America,  to  attempt  to  rule  the 
consciences  of  the  people  in  minor  matters  of  daily  life, 
and  thus  to  narrow  the  spiritual  outlook  of  a  whole  sect. 
The  other  bodies  threw  off  these  small  peculiarities,  as 
the  exigencies  of  the  time  in  K^ew  England,  for  in- 
stance, demanded  an  active  participation  in  the  life — 
political  and  social — of  the  growing  commonwealth. 
The  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  contrary,  after 
1756,  the  period  of  their  withdrawal  from  the  public 
arena,  no  longer  participated  in  the  political  and  social 
developments  of  the  most  rapid  period  of  growth  in 
that  colony;  they  thereby  preserved  many  little  pecu- 
liarities of  their  most  conservative  sect,  which  peculiari- 
ties would  necessarily  have  been  rubbed  off  in  contact 
with  men  of  other  minds.  This  must  be  borne  in  mind 
regarding  the  Quakers;  for  the  same  method  of  treat- 
ment would  have  preserved  Puritan  customs  to  us  as 
interesting  religious  fossils  to  the  present  day. 


106  TBE   QUAKER. 

Wigs  were  denounced  in  the  Massachusettts  legisla- 
ture as  early  as  1675.  John  Eliot  said  that  the  wars 
and  disturbances  in  the  Puritan  Meeting  House  were  a 
judgment  on  the  people  for  wearing  wigs;  *  and  he  re- 
luctantly acknowledged  that  "  the  lust  for  wigs  is  be- 
come insuperable !  "  We  know  that  John  Wilson  and 
Cotton  Mather  wore  them.  A  young  woman  of  Rhode 
Island,  named  Hetty  Shepard,  when  visiting  Boston,  in 
1676,  wrote  in  her  diary: 

I  could  not  help  laughing  at  the  periwig  of  Elder  Jones,  which 
had  gone  awry.  The  periwig  has  been  gieatly  censured  as  en- 
couraging worldly  fashions  not  suitable  to  the  wearing  of  a  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  and  it  has  been  preached  about  by  Mr. 
Mather,  and  many  think  he  is  not  severe  enough  in  the  matter, 
but  rather  doth  find  excuse  for  it  on  account  of  health.f 

Pepys  records  the  first  time  he  put  on  his  wig,  which 
was  in  1663.  By  1716  they  were  universal,  although 
in  1722  the  Puritans  declared  at  Hampton  that  "  ye 
wearing  of  extravagant,  superfluous  wigges  is  alto- 
gether contrary  to  Truth."  The  New  York  Assembly 
taxed  every  wig  of  human  or  horse  hair  mixed.  The 
early  Colonists,  both  Baptists  and  Friends,  in  1689- 
1698,  unitedly  attacked  the  wearing  of  periwigs  in  men 
and  high  headdresses  in  women,  the  former  holding 
that  the  anticipated  appearance  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy 
made  such  frivolity  both  unnecessary  and  inappropri- 
ate. Portraits  of  Endicott,  Judge  Sewall,  and  others 
who  abjured  the  wig,  show  them  in  small  black  skull- 
caps. The  Judge,  who  wore  a  hood,  probably  did  so  to 
afford  his  neck  the  protection  that  the  wearers  of  wigs 

*W.  R.  Bliss,   "Side  Glimpses  from  the  Colonial  Meeting-house," 
p.  97. 

tibid.    P.  136. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  107 

enjoyed  with  that  vanity,  and  which  in  the  bleak  ISTew 
England  climate  gave  the  custom  more  semblance  of 
sense  than  anywhere  else.  The  portrait  of  Moses 
Brown,  the  well-known  Quaker  of  Providence,  shows 
him  in  a  similar  substitute  for  the  wig. 

One  of  the  earliest  Quaker  minutes  in  Kew  England 
relating  to  the  subject  of  wigs,  occurs  at  Dartmouth, 
Massachusetts,  whose  Monthly  Meeting  records,  under 
date  First  month  21,  1719:  "  A  concern  lying  on  this 
meeting  Concerning  of  Friends  Wearing  of  Wigs  is  re- 
ferred to  be  proposed  to  the  next  Quarterly  Meeting." 
Soon  after,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  at 
Philadelphia,  ISTew  England  Yearly  Meeting  advised 
(1721)  that  the  important  subject  of  wigs  be  taken  up. 
As  a  consequence  of  this  action,  in  Sixth  month  of  that 
year,  Dartmouth  Monthly  Meeting  appointed  John 
Tucker  and  Thomas  Taber,  Jr.,  "  to  draw  up  something 
relating  to  wigges  " ;  and  Sandwich  Quarterly  Meeting, 
on  First  month  19,  1722,  saw  fit  to  elaborate  its  views 
as  follows: 

The  Sense  and  Judgment  of  Sandwich  Quarterly  Meeting  in 
Relation  to  Wigs  is  that  if  any  friend  by  reason  of  Age  or  Sick- 
ness have  lost  their  Hair,  may  wear  a  small  decent  Wig  as  much 
like  their  owne  Hair  as  may  be — but  for  any  friend  to  cut  of 
their  Hair  on  purpose  to  wear  a  Wig  seems  to  be  more  pride 
than  Profit  and  when  any  professing  truth  with  us  go  into  the 
same,  they  ought  to  be  proceeded  against  as  disorderly  walkers. 

There  is  evidence  of  many  who  became  so  far  "  disor- 
derly walkers  "  as  to  be  quite  unable  to  resist  the  fasci- 
nations of  an  artificial  superstructure.  The  same  meet- 
ing records  some  years  later: 

1  mo.  1791:  R D hath  given  way  to  the  Lust  of  the  Eye 

and  the  Pride  of  Life  in  following  some  of  the  vain  Fations  and 
Customs  of  the  times  and  Continues  Therein  j   Especially   that 


108  TEE   QUAKER. 

of  waring  his  Hair  long  which  is  a  shame  according  to  the  Apos- 
tles Declaration;  also  tied  with  a  string  [doubtless  the  worldly 
black  ribbon  worn  by  the  Father  of  his  Country,  an  example 
for  all  loyal  citizens  to  follow]  and  some  other  modes  that  we 
have  not  unity  with;  also  attended  a  marriage  out  of  the  order 
of  Friends;  for  all  which  we  have  Labored  with  him. 

This  case  shows  the  period  of  transition  from  the  wig 
to  the  natural  hair  worn  long,  tied  and  powdered.  ISTan- 
tucket  Records,  dated  Seventh  month  6,  1803,  also  re- 
late that  F.  H.  "  has  deviated  from  our  principles  in 
dress,  particularly  in  tying  the  hair." 

Dartmouth   Meeting,    in    1733    (Tenth   month    17) 

showed  its  sorrow  for  one  of  its  members  "  going  from 

education  "  in  the  following  minute : 

Whereas,  H T .    .    .    hath  had  his  Education  among 

Friends  but  for  want  of  keeping  the  Spirit  of  Truth  and  ye  good 
order  Established  among  Friends,  hath  gone  from  Education  &  let 
himself  into  a  Liberty  that  is  not  agreeable  to  our  Holy  Profes- 
sion, by  wearing  Divers  sorts  of  Periwigs  and  his  Hat  set  up  on 
three  sides  like  ye  Vain  Custom  of  ye  World,  and  also  Speaking 
of  Words  not  agreeable  to  our  Profession,  &  for  these  his  out- 
goings he  has  been  Labored  with  and  Advised  to  forsake  the 
same,  but  he  hath  not  done  it  to  ye  Satisfaction  of  ye  Monthly 
Meeting,  but  still  goes  on  with  his  vain  conversation,  to  the 
grief  of  (the)  sincere-hearted  among  us.  Therefore  for  the  clear- 
ing of  Truth  of  Such  Reproachful  things  we  are  concerned  to 
give   Forth  this  as  a  Public  Condemnation. 

Philadelphia,  now  the  most  conservative,  was  at  that 

period  the  most  fashionable  town  in  the  new  country, 

and  we  find  its  Quaker  Meeting  struggling  with  the 

wig-mania  some  time  before  there  is  any  record  of  its 

appearance  among  that  body  in  New  England.     Such 

minutes  as  the  following  are  not  uncommon : 

It  being  spoken  to  at  this  Meeting  as  a  grief  upon  some 
friends,  That  many  comes  out  of  England  with  fashionable 
Cloathes  and  great  Perriwigs,  which,  if  care  be  not  taken  may 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  109 

(its  feared)  tend  to  Corrupt  the  Youth  of  this  place.  This 
Meeting  recommends  the  same  [to  the  next  Quarterly  Meeting.] 
— Philadelphia  Monthly  Meeting,  26  of  2  mo.  1700. 

The  friends  appointed  by  the  preparative  Meeting  to  bring  in 
the  testimony  of  Ancient  Friends  concerning  fashionable  cloath- 
ing  and  Long  Perriwigs,  have  done  it,  and  they  are  desired  to 
recommend  tlie  same  to  the  next  Quarterly  Meeting. — Do.,  30 
of  3  mo.  1701. 

Likewise  the  Friends  appointed  to  Enquire  into  the  Conversa- 
tion and  Clearness  of  Abraham  Scott,  Report  that  they  cannot 
find  but  that  he  is  clear  in  relation  to  marriage  and  debts,  but 
as  to  his  orderly  walking  amongst  Friends,  they  cannot  say 
much  for  him  on  that  account.  Yet  upon  his  appearance  before 
this  meeting,  making  some  acknowledgment  of  Extraordinary 
Powdering  of  his  Periuig,  which  is  the  chief  (thing)  Friends 
had  against  him,  and  hoping  to  take  more  care  for  the  future, 
Samuel  Carpenter  and  Anthony  Morris  are  desired  to  write  him 
a  Certificate  and  sign  the  same  on  behalf  of  this  Meeting. — Do., 
25  of  5  mo.  1701. 

Under  the  same  date  we  find: 

Some  course  might  be  taken  with  the  Taylors  that  make  pro- 
fession of  Truth,  and  are  found  in  the  practice  of  making  such 
fashionable  cloathing  as  Tends  to  the  Corruption  of  Youth. 

They  do  not  seem,  however,  to  have  gone  the  lengths 
of  Dublin  Meeting: 

28  of  6  mo.  1702;  Philadelphia  Monthly  Meeting  desires  that 
the  proposition  of  the  last  Preparative  meeting  about  cutting  of 
hair  &  wearing  of  perriwigs,  may  be  laid  before  the  next  Quar- 
terly Meeting.  .  .  .  17th.  of  6  mo.  1703;  Ordered  that  friends  in 
their  particular  meetings  make  inquiry  if  there  be  any  in  the 
use  of  perriwigs  extravagantly  or  unnecessary. 

We  also  find  the  following,  in  an  Epistle  of  Philadel- 
phia Yearly  Meeting  to  the  Quarterly  and  Monthly 
Meetings,  dated  Seventh  month  18,  1723,  "  on  third 
day  as  usual  " : 

As  to  such  young  people  who  have  been  educated  in  the  way 
of  Truth,  or  make  profession  with  us,  if  they   do  not  continue 


110  THE   QUAKER. 

in  well  doing,  but  frequent  scandalous  or  tipling  houses,  and 
delight  in  vain  and  evil  company  and  communications  or  shall 
use  gaming,  or  drink  to  excess,  or  behave  rudely  or  such  like 
enormities  or  shall  decline  our  plain  manner  of  speech  or  imi- 
tate the  vain  antick  modes  and  customs  of  the  times — the  men 
with  their  extravagant  wigges,  and  hattes  set  up  with  three 
corners;  and  the  women  in  their  immodest  dresses,  and  other 
indecencies.  It  is  our  advice  and  earnest  desire  that  parents  and 
guardians,  whilst  such  youth  are  under  their  tuition,  do  restrain 
them,  and  not  indulge  or  maintain  them  in  such  pride  or  ex- 
travagances. But  if  they  will  not  be  otherwise  reformed,  then 
the  Overseers  or  other  Frd's  shall  use  their  endeavours  to  re- 
strain them,  and  if  that  cannot  prevail,  let  the  ofifenders  (after 
dealing  and  admonitions),  have  notice  to  be  at  the  next  suc- 
ceeding monthly  meeting,  in  order  to  be  further  dealt  withall 
in  the  Wisdom  of  Truth,  according  to  the  Discipline. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  wigs  were  discarded  with 
more  apparent  reluctance  in  democratic  America  than 
in  England.  To  appear  on  the  streets  of  New  York, 
about  1800,  without  a  wig  was  scarcely  decent,  and 
Parton  tells  us  that  "  many  men  surrendered  the  pig- 
tail only  with  life."  In  1786,  Ann  Warder's  Philadel- 
phia nephews  wore  their  hair  still  in  the  queue,  a 
fashion  quite  gone  out  at  that  date  in  London.  She 
says:  "  I  threatened  the  Execusion  of  these  Pig-Tails 
before  I  will  submit  to  introduce  them  as  my  nephews 
in  our  country,  which  they  both  acknowledge  will  be 
cheerfully  resigned."  * 

In  the  year  1795,  Martha  Routh,  the  English  Friend 
who  wore  the  first  "  plain  bonnet  "  in  America,  at- 
tended a  meeting  of  the  settlers  in  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  "  to  which,"  she  says,  "  came  many  Men- 
onists  and  Dunkers.  Some  of  the  Elders  wear  their 
beards,  as  they  say,  according  to  ancient  custom,  but  do 

*Ann  Warder,  MS.  Journal. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  HI 

not  enjoin  it  as  a  part  of  their  religion."  *  These  same 
German  Baptists  argued  that  Adam  came  into  being 
fully  equipped  with  a  luxuriant  beard ;  and  that  Aaron's 
reached  to  the  hem  of  his  garment.  Thej  also  quoted 
Leviticus  19:  27.  In  respect  to  Adam,  they  were 
hardly  behind  the  Rev.  George  Wickes,  the  Puritan  di- 
vine, who  lived  during  the  fashions  in  dress  of  the  Ho- 
garth period.  He  died  in  1744.  A  sermon  that  he 
preached  at  Harwichtown  has  been  preserved  to  us,  and 
is  quoted  by  Bliss.  The  following  extracts  seem  appro- 
priate : 

Adam,  so  long  as  he  continued  in  innocency,  did  wear  his  own 
hair  and  not  a  Perriwig.  Indeed,  I  do  not  see  how  it  was  possi- 
ble that  Adam  should  dislike  his  own  hair,  and  therefore  cut  it 
off,  so  that  he  might  wear  a  Perriwig,  and  yet  have  continued 
innocent.  .  .  .  The  children  of  God  will  not  wear  Perriwigs  after 
the  Resurrection.  .  .  .  Elisha  did  not  cover  his  head  with  a. 
Perriwig,  altho'  it  was  bald.  To  see  the  greater  part  of  Men 
in  some  congregations  wearing  Perriwigs  is  a  matter  of  deep 
lamentation.  For  either  all  these  men  had  a  necessity  to  cut  off 
their  Hair,  or  else  not.  If  they  had  a  necessity  to  cut  off  their 
Hair,  then  we  have  reason  to  take  up  a  lamentation  over  the 
sin  of  our  first  Parents  which  hath  occasioned  so  many  Persons  in 
one  Congregation  to  be  sickly,  weakly  crazy  Persons.  Oh,  Adam, 
what  hast  thou  done!  f 

Elizabeth  Drinker  was  a  Quaker  lady  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, in  Philadelphia,  to  whose  keen  powers  of  observa- 
tion we  are  greatly  indebted  for  much  valuable  infor- 
mation. She  writes,  in  1794:  "  Two  bearded  men 
drank  tea  here,"  recording  the  fact  in  much  the  same 
way  that  she  had  noted  the  passing  by  of  an  elephant, 
then  a  rare  sight,  a  short  time  before.:}:  The  Puritan  was 


*  Martha  Eouth,  Journal,  p.  139. 

tW.R.  Bliss,  "Side  Glimpses   from  the  Colonial  Meeting-house," 
p.  142. 

J  Elizabeth  Drinker,  Journal. 


112  THE   QUAKER. 

everywhere  more  numerous  than  the  Quaker;  and  for 
tliis  reason,  his  peculiarities  occupy  a  more  conspicuous 
place  in  literature  than  those  of  the  latter.  His  long 
hair  has  been  noted  by  no  less  a  hand  than  that  of  Ben 
Jonson.  Brother  Zeal-of-the-Land  Busy,  the  Puritan  in 
"  Bartholomew  Fair,"  is  made  by  the  dramatist  to  say: 

For  long  hair,  it  is  an  ensign  of  Pride,  a  banner;    and   the 
world  is  full  of  these  banners,  very  full  of  banners.* 

The  famous  picture  of  King  Charles  L,  at  St.  John's 

College,  Oxford,  written  in  the  Psalms,  in  the  smallest 

possible  handwriting  that  can  be  deciphered,  was  thus 

apostrophized  by  one  Jeremiah  Wells: 

The  Presbyterian  maxim  holds  not  here 
That  calls  locks  impious  if  below  the  ear; 
When  every  fatall  clip  lops  off  &  prayer, 
And  he's  nccurs'd,  that  dare  but  cut  thy  hair. 

There  are  a  few  rare  Quaker  pamphlets  against  wigs. 
The  following  extracts  from  two  of  the  most  unique 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  kind  of  literature  devoted  to 
the  subject.  As  usual,  in  such  cases,  it  is  more  attrac- 
tive to  the  antiquarian  than  the  scholar: 

A    Testimony    against  Periwigs  and    Peri-wig    making    and 
Playing  on  Instruments  of  Music  among  Christians,  or 

ANY    OTHER    IN    THE    DAYS  OF    THE  GoSPEL.        BeINO  SEVERAL 

Reasons  against  those  things.      By  one  who  for  Good 
Conscience  sake  hath  denyed  and  forsaken  them. 

John  Mulliner.     1677. 

This  curious  pamphlet  relates  the  suffering  of  mind 
undergone  by  Mulliner,  who  was  at  one  time  a  barber 
of  Northampton,  in  regard  to  making  "  borders,"  wigs 
and  periwigs  for  his  trade.    He  says : 

As  to  my  Employment   of  Periwig  making,  it  is  more   than 
twelve  years  since  I  began  to  make  them,  and  much  might  be 

*ActIII.,Sc.l. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  II3 

said  for  the  making  of  them  by  some,  yet  much  questioning  and 
reasoning  have  1  had  within  myself  for  some  time — so  that  at 
some  times  I  have  been  troubled  when  I  have  been  makinsr  of 
them. 

He  had  apparently  argued  to  himself: 

There  is  hardly  any  man  but  is  desirous  of  a  good  head  of 
Hair,  and  if  Nature  doth  not  afford  it,  if  there  be  an  art  to  make 
a  Decent  Wig  or  Border,  what  harm  is  that?  As  for  those  whose 
hair  is  wasted,  fallen  and  gone  off  their  Heads  through  infirmity 
of  Body,  and  for  want  of  it  do  find  that  their  health  is  impaired, 
or  lessened,  if  such  do  wear  short  Borders  for  their  health  sake, 
and  for  no  other  End  or  Cause  Whatsoever,  I  judge  them  not; 
but  let  none  make  a  pretense  that  they  wear  Borders  or  Wigs 
for  their  Health,  when  in  Reality,  another  thing  is  the  Cause. 

And  let  all  those  who  have  Hair  growing  upon  their  heads, 
sufficient  to  serve  them,  I  mean  what  is  really  needful  or  useful, 
be  content  therewith,  and  not  find  fault  with  their  own  hair  and 
cut  it  oflF,  and  lust  after  and  put  on  others  Hair. 

As  I  had  been  a  publick  Professor  of  this  Employment  for  some 
time,  I  must  bear  my  Testimony  against  them;  and  that  was,  I 
should  send  for  my  two  men,  as  I  had  instructed  in  that  way, 
and  tell  them  how  I  was  troubled  and  take  a  Wig  and  burn  it 
before  them,  as  a  Testimony  for  God  against  them.  .  .  .  So,  ac- 
cording to  the  pain  and  sorrow  that  lay  hard  upon  me,  I  gave 
up  to  do  it,  and  I  thank  God  I  have  much  ease  and  comfort  of 
mind  since  I  have  done  it. 

I  was  a  great  lover  of  Musick,  and  many  times  as  I  have  been 
thinking  of  God  and  of  the  condition  I  was  in^  it  would  have 
brought  trouble  upon  me;  so  that  many  times  I  have  took  my 
Cittern  or  Treble  Viol  or  any  instrument  as  I  had  most  delight 
ill,  thinking  to  drive  away  these  Thoughts,  and  I  have  been  so 
troubled,  as  I  have  been  playing,  that  I  have  laid  my  instrument 
down  and  have  reasoned  with  myself,  .  .  .  and  fell  a  crying  to 
God,  and  my  music  began  to  be  a  burden.  ...  I  would  fain  have 
sold  my  Instruments,  but  that  I  had  not  freedom  in  my  mind  to 
do ;  for  if  I  did,  those  who  bought  them  would  have  made  use  of 
them  as  I  did,  and  I  thought  I  could  not  be  the  cause  of  it;   so 


114  THE   QUAKER. 

I  took  as  many  as  I  suppose  cost  forty  shilling,  and  Burned 
Them,  and  had  great  Peace  in  my  mind  in  doing  of  it,  which  i3 
more  to  me  than  all  the  pleasures  in  this  world.* 

A  Declabation  against  Wigs  and  Periwigs. 
Bt  Kichaed  Richardson. 

Jer,  22  :  24.    Phil.  3 :  3 

Several  Testimonies  having  been  given  by  Friends  against  Pride 
in  Apparel  relating  to  Women;  'tis  considerable  whether  Women 
being  reflected  on,  may  not  reasonably  reflect  on  Men,  their  arti- 
ficial frizzled  Hair;  for  Women's  Hairs  on  Men's  Heads  swarm 
like  one  of  Egypt's  Plagues,  and  creep  in  too  much  upon  and 
among  Christians.  And  a  Nehemiah  is  desirable,  that  might 
pluck  off  this  strange  Hair  of  strange  Women  lusted  after. 
(Nehem.  13:  25.)  And  the  Heathen  may  rise  up  against  us,  for 
an  Ambassador  coming  before  a  Senate  with  false  Hair,  a  Grave 
Senator  said.  What  credit  is  to  be  had  to  him  whose  very  Locks 
do  lye?  And  if,  upon  necessity  the  Locks  of  any  amongst  us  do 
lye,  'tis  fit  they  should  lye  to  purpose,  viz.,  so  as  not  to  be  dis- 
covered from  native  Locks!  For  to  seek  to  deceive  so  as  to  be 
perceived,  argues  as  much  want  of  Wit  as  of  Sincerity;  and  a 
want  of  an  Endeavor  in  it  not  to  be  perceived,  argues  a  want  of 
Humility  and  Moderation! 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

If  Heat  causes  Headach,  sure  a  Wig  under  a  Hat  is  not  a 
means  to  cure  it.  The  Prophet  Elisha  likely  had  neither,  when 
Bethel  Boys  cried,  A  Bald  Head! 

•  ••••• 

John  Mulliner,  A  Friend  about  Northamton,  a  Wig-maker,  left 
off  his  trade  and  was  made  to  burn  one  in  his  Prentices  sight  and 
Print  against  it.  John  Hall,  a  Gentleman  of  Northumberland, 
being  Convinced,  sitting  in  a  meeting,  was  shaken  by  the  Lord's 
Power,  pluck'd  off  and  threw  down  his  Wig;  so  'tis  considerable 
whether  care  may  not  be  taken,  that  conceited  conterfit  [coun- 
terfeit] Calvinists  may  not  continue  amongst  us,  nor  tliat  any 
of  the  people  of  God  make  themselves  Bald  for  Pride  now,  as 
they  did  of  old  for  Sorrow.     (Levit.  21.  5.) 

The  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  forbad  ornament  of  Plaited  Hair 
(as  ours  translate;    Crisp'd   or   Curl'd,  as   others)    and  the   An- 

*  This  was  reprinted  in  1708. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  115 

cients  write,  that  they  both  had  Bald-Heads,  and  if  they  should 
have  covered  them  with  Women's  Hair,  would  they  not  have  re- 
torted Was  that  the  cause,  Peter  and  Paul,  that  you  had  us  leave 
off  our  Locks,  that  you  and  such  like  might  get  them  yourselves 
to  make  Peri-wigs  of? 

And  then  Friend  Richard's  feelings  overcame  him 
entirely,  and  he  says: 

WTio  can  refrain  to  fall  into  a  Poetical  Vein,  and  Paint  out  in 
such  sad  Colours,  that  it  may  look  as  ugly  as  it  doth.  For  a 
glorying  in  a  Shame  as  an  Ornament,  Sharppens  a  Pen  to  describe 
it  to  make  it  appear  as  it  is.    Difficile  et  Satyram  non  scribere! 

Metamorphoses. 

The  manner  of  this  Age  unmannerly 
Is,  Man  unmanning,  Women's  Hair  to  buy. 
Dub  Poles  and  Joles  Dame  Venus'  knights  to  be, 
Smock-coat  and  Petticoat-Breech  their  Livery; 
Scarce  man-like  fac'd,  though  Woman-like  in  Hair, 
As  sting-tail'd  Locusts  in  the  Vision  were; 

•  •.••• 

And  like  unto  the  Phrygian  Ganymede, 
Or  as  Tiresias  Femaliz'd  indeed; 
Or  one  that   (sith  he  would  a  Woman  be) 
Put  Period  to  Assyrian  Monarchy. 
Hair  in  a  Night  turn'd  Hew,  of  old  'tis  said, 
An  old  man  young,  a  Boy  a  Girl  was  made; 
Elders  so  now  transform'd  to  Girls  appear. 
And  Girls  to  Boys  by  their  short  curtail'd  Hair. 
By  bulls,  some  seem  'ith  twilight  turn'd  to  owls, 
As  antique  Harpyes,  or  some  new  Night  Fowles. 
As  charming  Sirens  (bate  their  ugly  Hair) 
Having  their  Arms,  Necks,  Brests,  Backs,  Shoulders  bare. 
Nay,  for  their  Knights  rich  Garters  some  prepare. 

While  long  hair  was  the  fashion  for  men,  the  col- 
lar was  unpretending,  and  an  inch  or  two  its  utmost 
height.  Henry  VIII.,  who  introduced  short  hair,  kept 
up  a  simple  band  of  this  sort;  and  no  lace  was  worn. 
Bands  for  the  neck  were  of  Italian  cut-work,  costing  as 


116  THE   QUAKER. 

much  as  £60.  "  Partelets  "  were  of  velvet  or  lawn, 
larger  than  bands,  and  worn  like  the  earlier  "  gorgets  " 
of  embroidered  lawn,  velvet  or  Venetian  work.* 
French  gentlemen  began  to  wear  collarettes  or  frilled 
ruffles  about  1540.f  The  shirts  of  this  period  were  of 
very  fine  holland,  with  no  neckband,  but  a  neckcloth, 
the  most  stylish  being  the  "  Steenkirk,"  after  the  bat- 
tle of  that  name.  Starch  reached  the  extreme  of  its  use 
or  abuse  in  the  enormous  ruffs  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign. :{:  Small  ruffs  were  still  worn  in  the  early  Quaker 
times,  but  they  were  less  starched.  Aurelia,  in  Jasper 
Mayne's  play,  "  The  City  Match,"  when  her  Puritan 
maid  has  become  worldly,  and  enters  her  presence  in 
fashionable  attire,  exclaims: 

O,  miracle !  out  of 

Your  little  ruff,  Dorcas,  and  in  the  fashion — 

Dost  thou  hope  to  be  saved?  § 

and  again: 

Ere  I'll  be  tortured  thus,  I'll  get  dry  palms 
With  starching,  and  put  on  my  smocks  myself.  || 

Quarlous,  in  "  Bartholomew  Fair,"  says   of    an    ac- 
quaintance : 

Ay,  there  was  a  blue-starch  woman  of  the  name; 

and  ^Nightingale,  in  the  same  play,  sells  "  A  Ballad  of 
Goose-green  starch  and  the  Devil,  i.e,  a  Goodly  ballad 
against  Pride,  showing  how  a  Devil  appeared  to 
a  lady  which  was  starching  her  ruff  by  night."  Yel- 
low starch  was  most  in  vogue  in  England.     Old  Stubbes 

*Georgiana  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  187. 

tQuicherat,  "  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  p.  175. 

J  One  Mrs.  Turner  introduced  yellow  starch  from  France  with  great 
success.  By  a  dreadful  irony  of  fate  she  was  hanged  for  the  murder  of 
Sir  Thomas  Overbury  in  a  starched  ruff  I 

§ActIV.,Sc.  3. 

II  Act  II.,  Sc.  1. 


A   8TUDY   IN   COSTUME.  II7 

scoffs  at  "  the  liquor  which  they  call  starch,  wherein  the 
devil  hath  willed  them  to  dye  their  ruffs !  "  *  He  says 
of  their  "  great  ruffes  and  supportasses  "  : 

They  haue  great  and  monstrous  ruffes,  made  either  of  cam- 
brike,  holland,  lawne,  or  els  of  some  other  the  finest  cloth  that 
can  be  got  for  money,  whereof  some  be  a  quarter  of  a  yarde 
deepe,  yea,  some  more,  very  few  lesse,  so  that  they  stande  a 
full  quarter  of  a  yearde  (and  more)  from  their  necks  hanging 
ouer  their  shoulder  points  in  steade  of  a  vaile.  But  if  ^Eolus 
with  his  blasts,  or  Neptune  with  his  storms,  chaunce  to  hit  vpon 
the  crasie  barke  of  their  brused  ruffes,  then  they  goe  flip  flap 
in  the  winde  like  ragges  that  flew  abroade  lying  vpon  their 
shoulders  like  the  dish  cloute  of  a  slut.  But  wot  you  what? 
the  deuill,  as  he,  in  the  fulnesse  of  his  malice,  first  inuented  these 
great  ruffes,  so  hath  he  now  found  out  also  two  great  pillers  to 
beare  vp  and  maintaine  this  his  kingdome  of  pride  withal  (for 
the  deuill  is  kyng  and  prince  ouer  al  the  children,  of  pride)  The 
one  arch  or  piller,  whereby  his  kyngdome  of  great  ruffes  is  vnder- 
propped,  is  a  certaine  kind  of  liquid  matter,  whiche  they  call 
starch,  wherein  the  deuill  hath  willed  them  to  washe  and  diue 
their  ruffes  well,  whiche,  beeying  drie,  will  then  stande  stiff  and 
inflexible  about  their  necks.  The  other  piller  is  a  certaine  deuice 
made  of  wiers  crested  for  the  purpose  whipped  ouer  either  with 
gold  thred,  siluer,  or  silke,  and  this  he  calleth  a  supportasse  or 
vnderpropper ;  this  is  to  bee  applied  round  about  their  neckes 
vnder  the  ruffe,  vpon  the  out  side  of  the  bande,  to  beare  vp  the 
whole  frame  and  bodie  of  the  ruffe,  from  fallying  and  hangying 
doune. 

Ruffs  gradually  went  out,  clergymen  and  judges  be- 
ing the  last  to  abandon  them,  and  embroidered  muslin 
or  lace  collars  in  Van  Dyck  style  came  in.  These  were 
worn  with  no  coat  collar  whatever,  in  order  that  they 
might  lie  flat  on  the  shoulders;  and  this  is  the  collar  of 
the  time  of  Penn,  whose  coat,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
collarless.  His  sovereign's  coat  was  ornamented  with 
a  deep  lace  collar,  reaching  to  the  point  of  the  shoul- 

*  "  Anatomie  of  Abuses,"  1586. 


118  THE   QUAKER. 

der,  under  which  any  collar  of  cloth  had  been  impos- 
sible. Therefore,  when  William  Penn  cast  off  his  laces, 
he  laid  bare  his  collarless  state,  and  it  required  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  to  develop  the  straight  coat  cut 
of  his  successors. 

But  the  form  of  neckwear  known  as  "  bands  "  was 
no  sooner  introduced  than  it  commended  itself  at  once 
to  the  Quaker,  and  was  forthwith  adopted.  Bands  are 
the  only  item  of  civil  dress  that  the  clergy  still  retain 
to-day,  surviving  in  the  gown  and  bands  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  as  those  who  know  Dr.  Parkhurst's 
familiar  figure  will  recall.  Without  entering  into  the 
question  of  its  authenticity  as  a  portrait,  Sir  Peter 
Lely's  painting  of  George  Pox  in  bands  is  rather  strik- 
ing in  connection  with  our  present  association  of  that 
portion  of  the  costume  with  the  clergy.  The  Bevan 
portrait  of  Penn  shows  him  in  bands,  as  does  that  of 
Milton  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  The  latter  wears  the 
*'  falling-band."  The  bands,  worn  very  soon  by  most 
Quakers,  gave  them  another  peculiarity  among  the 
fashionable  lace  and  embroidered  collars;  and  the  public 
was  quick  to  make  a  hit.  An  anti-Quaker  tract  of 
1671  *  says:  "  A  Quaker  is  a  vessel  of  Phanaticism 
drawn  off  to  the  Lees;  a  common  shore  [sewer]  of 
Heresie,  into  which  most  extravagant  opinions  at  last 
disembogue  and  enter;  the  fag  end  of  Reformation 
marked  with  a  sullen  meagre  look  and  this  character- 
istic '  Thou.'  .  .  .  [He]  decries  superstition,  yet  idolizes 
Garbs  and  phrases.  You  may  know  him  by  his  diminu- 
tive Band  that  looks  like  the  forlorn  hope  of  his  shirt 


*  "  Character  of  a  Quaker  in  His  True  and  Proper  Colors  ;  or,  The 
Clownish  Hypocrite  Anatomized."    London,  1671. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  119 

crawling  out  at  Lis  collar,  for  his  purity  consists  only  in 
his  dress,  and  his  religion  is  not  to  speak  like  his  neigh- 
bors." 

Bands  were  worn  by  the  less  fashionable,  and  by  lit- 
erary and  professional  men,  after  they  ceased  to  be 
universally  popular.  The  Dutch  were  very  partial  to 
them;  and  the  portrait  of  the  painter  Le  Febvre,  with 
his  pupil,  in  the  Louvre,  shows  both  in  bands. 

Walpole,  in  his  "  Anecdotes  of  Painting,"  thus  de- 
scribes the  Quakers: 

A  long  vest  and  cloke  of  black  or  some  other  grave  colour, 
with  a  collar  of  plain  linen  called  a  turnover,  and  a  broad  band, 
with  the  hair  closely  cropped,  distinguished  the  men  of  every 
rank,  and  the  ladies  equally  excluded  lace,  jewels  and  braided 
locks. 

At  one  time  bands  had  a  certain  political  signifi- 
cance, and  on  their  introduction  into  Ireland,  in  1728, 
the  following  "  Answer  to  the  Band  Ballad,  by  a  Man 
Milliner,"  declared: 

The  town  is  alarm'd  and  seems  at  a  stand. 
As  if  both  the  Pope  and  the  Devil  would  land 
To  doom  this  whole  Isle  in  the  shape  of  a  band — 
Which  nobody  can  deny,  deny ;  which  nobody  can  deny. 

The  bands  and  lace  tie  following  it  were  succeeded  by 
the  white  stock;  then  came  the  muslin  cravat,  which 
was  always  a  favorite  with  the  Quaker,  and  a  graceful 
dress  at  all  times;  to  this  succeeded  the  modern  rule  of 
the  starched  shirt  collar,  almost  as  uncompromising  in 
some  of  its  forms  as  anything  worn  in  the  days  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Stiff  linen  bands,  or  soft  cambric 
ones,  were  worn  by  all  Puritans.  We  find  four  plain 
bands  and  three  falling  ones  supplied  to  each  settler  of 
Massachusetts  Bay.     Sumptuary  laws  forbade  embroid- 


120 


THE   QUAKER. 


ery.  The  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  wore  bands 
when  on  the  bench  until  this  century.  The  linen  col- 
lar, turned  down  over  the  doublet,  was  known  as  the 
''  falling  band." 


Gabkiel-Marc-Antoine  de  Gbellet, 
father  of  Stephen  Grellet.     1789. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    QUAKERESS. 


Mistress  Anne  Lovely.  —  "Isn't  it  monstrously  rediculoos 
that  they  should  desire  to  impose  their  quaking  dress  upon  me 
at  these  years  ?  When  I  was  a  child,  no  matter  what  they  made 
me  wear ;  but  now  —  " 

Betty. — "I  would  resolve  against  it,  madam;  I'd  see  'em 
hanged  before  I'd  put  on  the  pinch'd  cap  again." 

Mistress  Lovely. — "  Are  the  pinch'd  cap  and  formal  hood  the 
emblems  of  sanctity?  Does  your  virtue  consist  in  your  dress, 
Mrs.  Prim?" 

Mrs.  Cenllivre:    "A  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Wife." 


When  she  to  silent  meeting  comes. 
With  apron  green  before  her, 

She  simpers  so  like  mut9e  plums, 
'Twould  make  a  Jew  adore  her. 


Old  Verse. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  QUAKERESS. 


ONCOXFORMITY  has  nowhere  ex- 
pressed itself  more  fully  than  in 
Quaker  dress.  There  is  unconscious 
satire  in  the  old  Quaker  plea  that  no 
change  has  crept  into  their  institu- 
tions ;  in  regard  to  their  dress,  at  least, 
this  is  all  a  mistake.  But  one  creature 
exists  in  which  no  change,  which  is  the 
other  name  for  growth,  has  been  go- 
ing on,  and  that  is  the  fossil.  On  the  contrary,  an 
instance  of  adaptability  in  dress  on  the  part  of  the 
Quakers  is  their  prompt  acceptance  of  the  shawl, 
which,  at  its  introduction,  near  Revolutionary  times, 
was  at  once  seized  upon  as  eminently  adapted  to  Quaker 
needs.  Possibly  the  most  notable  instance  of  adher- 
ence to  a  style  is  that  of  Mrs.  ISToah,  in  the  famous  toy 
ark.  It  will  be  remembered  that  she  wears  high  stays, 
with  a  very  waspish  waist,  and  her  petticoats  are  ex- 
tended by  what  are  evidently  padded  hips.  The  head- 
dress crowning  her  rather  conventional  features — so 
far  as  she  has  any  lineaments  at  all — is  a  most  frivolous 
"  Tam  o'  Shanter," — or  is  it  a  flat  hat,  rather  circum- 
scribed in  extent  ?  At  any  rate,  here  is  a  lady  who  has 
dressed  just  the  same  for  several  hundred  years,  and 
we  should  weep  to  see  her  change  now. 


124  "^^^   QUAKER. 

It  would  be  very  valuable  to  us  to  learn  what  was 
the  exact  costume  worn  by  Margaret  Fell  (afterward 
Margaret  Fox)  and  her  talented  and  interesting  daugh- 
ters. We  only  know  how  her  contemporaries  dressed, 
and  have  a  few  details  of  the  family  wardrobe  in  those 
Swarthmoor  account  books  which  still  exist.  That  they 
wore  the  popular  style  of  dress,  without  adornments,  is 
altogether  likely,  for  she  has  left  on  record  her  disap- 
proval of  anything  tending  to  uniformity  among  the 
Friends.  We  shall  not  be  far  wrong,  I  think,  if  we  im- 
agine George  Fox's  wife  in  a  hood  of  black  wadded 
silk,  a  short,  full  skirt,  standing  well  out  from  the  hips, 
and  held  in  position  by  an  array  of  petticoats  (for  she 
would  never  have  worn  the  false  hips  then  in  vogue); 
a  kerchief  of  muslin,  over  a  low  bodice,  stiff  and  long 
in  the  waist,  and  laced  with  many  eyelets,  its  cord  of 
blue  or  white  or  black,  depending  upon  whether  her 
gown  were  red  or  blue;  her  shoes  heavy,  low  and  square- 
toed,  wdth  heels  that  may  have  been  another  color  from 
the  shoe  itself,  but  not  the  fashionable  red,  and  higher 
than  we  should  now  care  to  wear  upon  the  street.  Her 
cloak,  whose  color  we  dare  not  speculate  upon,  was  of 
substantial  cloth,  with  a  hood  for  ornament  when  not 
in  use,  as  it  often  was,  particularly  in  her  long  journeys 
on  horseback  from  county  to  county  attending  public 
meetings.  She  may  have  called  it  a  "  capuchin,"  for 
that  was  the  form  of  cloak  then  coming  into  wear.  But 
"we  are  not  privileged  to  possess  descriptions  of  her  per- 
sonal appearance  nor  of  her  style  of  dress,  as  is  the 
case  with  both  of  her  distinguished  husbands.  We 
learn  from  one  or  two  references  to  old  letters  of 
ancient  worthies,  that  she  was  fair  and  comely,  and 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  125 

Maria  Webb  says  that  she  had  a  "  beaming  counte- 
nance," and  a  "  most  sweet,  harmonious  voice."  But 
with  these  slight  references  we  are  fain  to  be  content. 
A  few  items  of  clothing  touched  upon  in  the  family- 
letters  give  us  our  only  clue  to  the  style  of  dress  worn 
by  the  women  of  the  Swarthmoor  circle.  John  Rous, 
the  son-in-law  of  Margaret  Fell  Fox,  writes  her  from 
London  in  1670: 

Yesterday,  by  John  Scott,  the  Preston  carrier,  I  sent  a  small 
box  of  sugar  for  present  use,  directed  for  Thomas  Green.  The 
hasp  was  sealed  as  this  letter  is,  and  in  it  was  a  white  mantle, 
and  a  white  sarsanet  hood  for  thee,  and  some  playthings  for  the 
children.* 

The  following  items  from  a  portion  of  the  old 
Swarthmoor  Account  Book  of  1673,  which  is  quoted 
from  at  length  in  "  The  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall," 
are  very  interesting  for  the  light  they  throw  upon  the 
style  of  dress  in  the  Fell  family.  The  precious  old  book 
is  in  Sarah  Fell's  handwriting.  Sarah  was  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  household,  and  the  head  of  affairs  and 
its  business  manager,  to  whom,  after  her  marriage  with 
William  Meade,  the  whole  family,  including  her 
mother,  repeatedly  appealed  in  despair  to  clear  up  the 
confusion  into  which  Swarthmoor  affairs  immediately 
fell  after  she  left  the  home.  In  some  cases  the  cost  of 
the  articles  given  is  illegible: 
By  money  pd.  Thos.  Benson  for  dying  2  pr.  stock- 
ings sky  colour,  of  mine,  and  a  petticoat  red,  of 

mine (Defaced) 

By  money  pd.   for  a  hat  for  little  Mary  Lower  I 

gave  her 0        0        6 

For  20  yds.  Cumberland  cloth 2        0        9 

Paid  for  a  vizard  mask  for  myself  &  a  hat (Defaced) 

*  Maria  Webb,  "  The  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,"  p.  231. 


126  THE   QUAKER. 

By  money  pd.  for  1  yd.  and  nail  of  black  paragon 

for  apron  for  self 0        2        0 

Paid  for  leading  strings  for  little  Margaret  Lower    0        0        2 

By  money  paid  for  a  blue  apron  »nd  strings  for  my- 
self       0         1         3 

By  money  pd.  for  a  black  hood  for  sister  Susan.  ...     0        4        0 

By  money  pd.  for  a  black  alamode  whiske*  for  sis- 
ter Rachel 0        2        0 

By  money  paid  for  a  round  whiske  for  sister  Su- 
sanna        0        4        4 

Do.  for  a  little  black  whiske  for  myself 0        1       10 

1678. 

By  money  pd.  for  clogging  a  pair  of  clogs  and  for 
nailes  to  mend  shoes  for  my  boy,  Tom  Harrison, 
(owTi  account)     0        0     5i^ 

Sarah    (Fell)    Meade    wrote    to    her    sister,    Rachel 

Abraham,   from  London,  under  date  "  The    19th.   of 

10th.  [December]  1683": 

I  have  endeavoured  to  fit  my  dear  Mother  with  black  cloth  for 
a  gown,  which  is  very  good  and  fine,  and  as  much  as  Jno.  Rich- 
ards saith  is  enough  to  the  full,  5  yards  and  half,  and  what 
materials  as  he  thought  was  needful  to  send  down,  vizt.  silk, 
both  sewing  and  stitching,  gallowne  ribbon,  and  laces,  and  I  was 
very  glad  to  know  what  she  wanted,  for  it  has  been  in  my  mind 
a  pretty  while  to  send  her  and  you  something,  and  I  could  not 
tell  what  she  might  need  or  might  be  most  serviceable  to  her 
was  the  reason  of  my  thus  long  forbearance,  and  so  I  desire 
her  acceptance  of  it,  and  yours  of  the  small  things  underwritten: 

3  pair  doe  skin  gloves  such  as  are  worn  in  winter,  for  mother, 
Bister  Lower  and  thyself;  the  thickest  pair  for  mother  if  they  fit 
her,  but  that  I  leave  to  you  to  agree  on  as  you  please. 

1  pair  same  sort  of  gloves  for  brother  Abraham. 

4  ells  of  Holland,  for  sister  Lower  and  thyself,  each  two  ells. 

2  pots  of  balsam,  one  for  my  mother,  the  other  for  sister 
Yeamans. 

3  pocket  almanacs,  for  sister  Yeamans,  sister  Lower  and  thy- 
self. 

*  Whisk,  "  A  neckerchief  worn  by  women  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Also  called  '  falling-whisk,'  apparently  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ruflf." 
— "  The  Century  Dictionary." 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  127 

1  muslin  nightrail  for  sister  Yeamans,  which  she  sent  for. 
100  needles,  of  which  half  for  sister  Yeamans,  which  she  sent 
for,  the  other  half  hundred  for  sister  Lower  and  thyself. 

•  •  •  •  •  « 

There  is  (in  the  box)  for  sister  Lower,  which  she  sent  to  sister 
Susanna  to  buy  her,  a  colored  stuff  manteo,  cost  143.,  and  11 
yards  and  half  of  black  worsted  stuff,  at  2s.  per  yard,  cost  223. 
Sister  Susanna  exchanged  the  old  20s.  piece  of  gold  as  she  desired, 
which  yielded  233.  6d.,  so  she  is  out  of  purse  for  her  12s.  6d. 
Black  stuff  was  worse  to  get  than  colored,  which  is  now  mostly 
worn;  but  she  hath  done  as  well  as  she  can,  and  hopes  it  will 
please  her;  its  a  strong,  serviceable  stuff. 

Mary  Frith  presents  her  service  to  (sister  Yeamans),  and 
takes  it  kindly  that  she  should  send  her  her  fillet. 

I  am  thy  affectionate  sister,  S.  M. 

(P.  S.) 

We  advise  you  to  make  my  mother's  cloth  gown  without  a 
skirt,  which  is  very  civil,  and  usually  so  worn,  both  by  young 
and  old,  in  stiffened  suits.* 

These  were  all  women  of  cultivation  and  good  taste, 
and  the  sister  in  London  kept  them  posted  as  to  the 
correct  mode  of  dress,  with  an  evident  desire  that  their 
mother  should  not  be  allowed  to  appear  singular  in  her 
garb,  although  no  time  was  wasted  by  any  of  them  on 
the  frivolities  of  dress.  The  simple,  homely  view 
of  the  family  life  presented  in  these  and  other  let- 
ters of  the  Fells,  allows  us  to  clothe  them  with  a  per- 
sonality that  gives  them  a  living  charm  when  we  meet 
them  again  in  the  larger  arena  of  public  life,  in  court  or 
prison.  Making  "  my  mother's  gown  without  a  skirt  " 
is  probably  making  it  without  an  overdress  of  any 
sort,  the  full,  stiffened  petticoats  that  were  then  the 
mode  requiring  none.     The  Quaker  women  had  been 

*  Maria  Webb.  "The  FeUsof  Swarthmoor  HaU,"  p.  92. 


128  THE   QUAKER. 

wearing  the  short  overskirt  represented  in  the  Quaker- 
ess Tub-Preacher,*  and  it  was  evidently  to  this  that  the 
reference  was  made.  The  "  whisk  "  above  referred  to 
is  the  forerunner  of  the  handkerchief  worn  by  Eliza- 
beth Try  and  her  successors  ever  since. 

Sometimes  the  modest  dress  of  the  Quakers  was  sad- 
ly misrepresented,  and  when  the  course  of  true  love  in 
the  case  of  Thomas  Lower  and  Mary,  daughter  of 
Judge  Fell  and  Margaret  (afterward  Fox),  did  not  at 
first  run  quite  smoothly,  certain  persons  at  Plymouth 
circulated  a  description  of  her  and  her  sister  that 
Thomas  hastened  to  deny.    He  writes  Mary: 

At  Plymouth  both  thou  and  sister  Yeamans  were  painted 
with  naked  necks,  and  in  costly  array,  until  T.  S.  [Thomas  Salt- 
house]  and  I  deciphered  you,  and  quite  defaced  the  former  coun- 
terfeit by  representing  you  in  a  more  commendable  dress.  The 
authors  of  these  unsavory  belchings  I  cannot  fully  discover,  but 
that  which  brings  report  will  also  carry. 

The  Pells  lived  in  days  of  more  extravagance  of  taste 
than  we,  although  a  recent  writer  on  modern  dress 
asserts  that  women  to-day  appear  "  one  season  like 
wriggling  worms  in  lampshades,  and  the  next,  fes- 
tooned and  befringed  in  the  upholstery  of  a  four-post 
bedstead."  f 

No  wonder  that  Fox,  to  whom  it  must  have  been  as 
gall  and  wormwood  to  be  obliged  to  touch  upon  the 
subject  at  all,  cried  out,  in  a  moment  of  wrath  and  in- 
dignation, to  the  women  of  his  day,  "  Away  with  your 
long  slit  peaks  behind  in  the  skirts  of  your  waistcoats," 
"  your   skimming-dish   hats,"    "  unnecessary   buttons," 

*See  illustration,  "The  Quaker  Meeting." 

t  Lady  Gwendolen  Ramsden,  "  The  Nineteenth  Century,"  for  Novem- 
ber, 1900,     On  Extravagance  in  Dress." 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  129 

"  short  sleeves,"  "  short  black  aprons,"  "  vizzards," 
"  your  great  needless  flying  scarfs,  like  colours  [flags] 
on  your  backs."  But  they  went  on,  the  world's  people; 
and  the  Quakers  of  Queen  Anne's  time  saw  fashions 
come  and  go  that  beside  the  beautiful  costumes  of  the 
great  days  of  Van  Dyck  and  Bol,  seem  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  grotesqueness — the  hoop,  the  periwig,  and  the 
tight  stays.  Finalh^,  in  1770,  an  Act  was  passed  by 
Parliament  to  the  effect  that 

All  women,  of  whatever  age,  rank,  profession,  degree,  wheth- 
er virgins,  maids  or  widows,  that  shall  from  and  after  such  Act 
impose  upon  seduce  or  betray  into  matrimony,  any  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's male  subjects  by  the  scents,  paints,  cosmetics,  washes, 
artificial  teeth,  false  hair,  Spanish  wool,  iron-stays,  hoops,  high- 
heeled  shoes,  etc.,  shall  incur  the  penalty  of  the  law  now  in  force 
against  vitchcraft,  and  like  misdemeanors,  and  that  the  marriage 
upon  conviction  shall  be  null  and  void!* 

Of  the  two  wives  of  William  Penn  we  possess  a  fine 
portrait  of  the  first — the  fair  Gulielma  Springett, 
whose  life  and  love  are  one  of  the  sweet  romances  of 
Quakerism.  She  is  represented  in  the  silk  hood  worn 
by  the  mother  and  the  wife  of  Cromwell,  and  by  most 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  England  in  her  day,  with 
the  border  of  a  dainty  muslin  cap  showing  beneath. 
Her  brocaded  gown  is  short  and  very  full  at  the  hips; 
the  pointed  laced  bodice  cut  low  in  the  neck,  and  filled 
in  with  a  kerchief;  the  elbow  sleeves  turned  back  in  a 
large  loose  cuff,  beneath  which  fine  muslin  under- 
sleeves  appear.  It  is  probable  that  her  dress  does  not 
represent  the  costume  of  the  plainest  Friends  of  her 
day,  any  more  than  did  that  of  her  distinguished  hus- 
band.    But  the  dress  of  contemporary  modish  ladies 

•Georgiana  HUl,  "  Women  in  English  Life,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  317. 


130  TEE   QUAKER. 

with  which  we  are  able  to  compare  it  is  so  vastly  more 
elaborate  than  "  Guli's,"  that  we  at  once  recognize  the 
presence  of  Quaker  moderation,  combined  with  taste 
and  good  sense,  such  as  we  should  expect  in  the  daugh- 
ter of  Lady  Springett.  Hannah  Callowhill,  the  second 
wife  of  William  Penn,  brought  up  in  the  rather  austere 
community  of  Friends  in  Bristol,  whose  mercantile  at- 
mosphere did  not  foster  the  arts  or  the  graces  of  life 
among  her  immediate  family  or  associates,  represents 
an  older  woman,  in  sober  attire,  whose  gowns  and 
aprons  were  of  a  plainer  hue,  and  whose  whole  mien 
was  one  of  seriousness  and  sobriety.  The  portrait  that 
we  have  of  her  is  also  taken  in  the  hood,  and  there  is  no 
evidence  of  any  cap  underneath.* 

The  Quakeresses  were  not  unfamiliar  in  their  modest 
garb  to  the  lords  and  ladies  about  the  Court.  Seven 
of  them,  in  1765,  went  together  to  wait  upon  Queen 
Charlotte,  "  when  her  Majesty  ordered  her  lady-in-wait- 
ing to  compliment  each  of  them,  which  they  returned 
in  a  sensible  and  modest  manner."  f  Margaret  Fell, 
both  before  and  after  her  marriage  to  George  Fox, 
made  various  visits  to  the  Court,  usually  accompanied 
by  another  woman  Friend. 

Aberdeen  and  Dublin  seem  to  have  been  from  the 


*The  original  of  the  portrait  of  Gulielma  Penn  is  a  painting  on  glass 
in  the  possession  of  the  descendants  of  Henry  Swan,  of  Holmwood,  Dork- 
ing, England,  who  died  in  1796.  The  copy  from  which  this  present 
example  is  taken,  forms  the  frontispiece  to  the  "  Penns  and  Penningtons 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  by  Maria  Webb. 

The  portrait  of  Hannah  Penn  is  from  a  painting  in  the  Banqueting 
Room  of  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia.  This  is  a  copy  in  its  turn  of  a 
crayon  drawing  in  possession  of  a  descendant  of  Francis  Place,  the  artist, 
who  lived  near  Darlington.  Place  is  said  to  have  taken  the  portrait  dur- 
ing one  of  the  frequent  visits  of  the  Penns  to  their  sister,  who  lived  near 
him. 

t British  Museum  "Scrap  Book  "  (4152,  H,  5). 


A  STUDY  IN   COtiTUME.  131 

first  the  meetings  most  anxious  to  keep  their  member- 
ship as  plain  as  possible.  The  former  issued  an  early 
"  Testimony  "  to  the  effect  that  "  no  colored  plaids  be 
worn  any  more,  but  either  mantles  or  low  hoods."  An 
order  prohibiting  plaids,  in  the  land  of  the  Scotch,  did 
violence  to  long-cherished  traditions  of  patriotism  and 
clan-feeling,  and  the  Aberdeen  Friends  wasted  many 
years  in  trying  to  enforce  arbitrary  laws  of  dress.  The 
Friends  give  gaiety  as  the  ground  of  their  objection  to 
plaids,  and  herein  show  their  want  of  tact,  for  this  gar- 
ment had  fallen  under  condemnation  for  another  reason 
than  its  fashion  among  the  Scotch  in  the  town  of  Glas- 
gow, where  the  Kirk  Session  Books  say:  *  "  Great  dis- 
order hath  been  in  the  Kirk  by  reason  of  women  sitting 
with  their  heads  covered  in  time  of  sermon,  sleeping." 
This  led  to  condemnation  of  hoods,  under  whose 
friendly  protection  the  Scotch  women  could  indulge  in 
a  refreshing  nap  during  the  interminable  sermons  of  the 
Scotch  clergy.  Thirty  years  later,  in  1637,  the  plaids 
worn  by  the  plain  folk  over  the  head  were  condemned 
for  the  same  reason,  and  not,  as  has  been  thought,  for 
the  gay  coloring. 

The  clothing  of  the  common  people,  as  well  as  of  the 
more  well-to-do,  was  spun  by  the  women  of  the  family, 
and  woven  by  the  village  "  wabster."  The  spinning- 
wheel  was  in  use  in  England  in  the  time  of  the  first 
Friends,  but  in  many  of  the  country  districts,  and 
almost  everywhere  in  Scotland,  the  old  "  rock  and 
reel  "  were  still  employed.  The  "  rock  "  was  the  hand 
distaff,  referred  to  by  Spenser  in  the  "  Faery  Queen  " 
(IV.,  iii.  48): 

•Planchg,  "  Dictionnaire  de  Costume,"  p.  244. 


132  THE   QUAKER. 

Sad  Clotho  held  the  rockCj  the  whiles  the  thrid 
By  griesly  Laehesis  was  spun  with  paine. 

Burns  also  makes  Bess,  in  "Bess  and  her  Spinning- 

Wheel,"  say: 

Oh,  leeze  me  on  my  spinning  wheel, 
Oh,  leeze  me  on  my  rock  and  reel. 

1730  saw  the  wheel  introduced  into  Scotland,  before 
which  "  rockings,"  somewhat  corresponding  to  our  old 
quilting  parties,  were  great  social  events.  The  cloth 
thus  prepared  was  made  up  into  garments  at  home,  or 
by  traveling  tailors,  for  a  milliner  was  only  kno"^Ti  in 
the  large  cities,  where  her  business  was  not  only  to 
clothe  the  living,  but  to  "  dress  dead  corpses,"  and  sell 
*'  dead  flannels."  The  peripatetic  tailor  was  paid  two  or 
three  pence  a  day  and  his  food,  or  "  diet."  The  travel- 
ing weaver  was  also  an  institution,  and  bought  the 
thrifty  housewife's  yarn,  giving  or  selling  in  exchange 
new  and  tempting  webs  of  cloth.  The  "  dead  flannels  " 
referred  to  were  the  wool  garments  in  which,  according 
to  the  law  of  England,  in  1678,  enacted  in  order 
to  encourage  the  wool  trade,  all  corpses  were  required 
to  be  buried,  heavy  fines  being  imposed  for  its  eva- 
sion. Friends  were  usually  careful  to  comply  with 
these  requirements,  as  instances  on  record  in  minutes 
of  various  meetings  abundantly  show. 

Many  of  the  first  Quaker  women  were  of  the  peasant 
class,  as  would  be  natural  with  the  converts  of  a  race  of 
open  air  preachers.  A  very  short  time  saw  ladies  of 
wealth  and  position,  like  Lady  Springett,  taking  their 
places  in  the  meetings ;  but  the  women  of  the  fields  were 
wearers  of  homespun  gowns,  and  not  until  the  next  cen- 
tury were  these  confined  to  any  special  color.    Red  was 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  133 

very  popular  in  the  early  half  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury; and  scarlet  was  common  among  the  Quaker 
women,  as  it  always  has  been  among  the  peasants  of 
other  countries  besides  England,  both  for  its  apparent 
warmth,  and  for  its  lasting  qualities.  Among  the 
household  accounts  of  Margaret  Fell  we  find  charges 
for  scarlet  cloth,  after  the  manner  of  the  good  house- 
keeper in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  who  "  clothed  her 
household  in  scarlet."  When  she  became  the  ^\dfe  of 
George  Fox  he  bought  her  scarlet  cloth  for  a  mantle. 
He  writes  his  wife,  about  16Y8,  that  with  the  money  she 
had  sent  him  to  buy  clothes  for  himself  he  purchased  of 
Richard  Smith  a  piece  of  "  red  cloth  for  a  mantle,  be- 
lieving she  needed  that  more  than  he  needed  the  coat." 
Again,  from  Worcester  prison,  he  wrote  to  her  that  he 
had  got  a  friend  to  purchase  "  as  much  black  Spanish 
cloth  as  would  make  her  a  gown,"  with  what  she  had 
given  him,  adding,  "  It  cost  a  great  deal  of  money,  but 
I  will  save."  * 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  she  did  not  wear  with  her  gay 
wrap  one  of  the  green  aprons  that  the  Friends  were 
then  regarding  as  almost  the  badge  of  Quakerism,  and 
which  were  so  identified  with  the  Quaker  women  that 
the  satires  then  plentiful  in  the  shape  of  broadsides  and 
pamphlets,  all  made  playful  allusions  to  the  green 
aprons. 

This  garment  happened  to  be  in  high  favor  at  the 
time  the  Quakers  arose,  and  to  this  accident  is  due  many 
an  entry  in  minutes  of  Dublin,  Aberdeen  and  London 
meetings,  advising  their  young  women  with  great  detail 
as  to  the  style  and  color  of  their  aprons.     The  fashion 

♦Maria  Webb,  "  The  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,"  p.  259. 


134  ^^^   QUAKER. 

held  for  many  years,  and  this  important  article  of  cos- 
tume was  worn  by  court  lady  and  little  scullery  maid 
alike.  The  favorite  color  with  everybody  was  green 
at  first;  long  afterward  we  find  Swift  writing  to 
Stella: 

You  shall  have  your  aprons;  and  I'll  put  all  your  commissions 
as  they  come  in  a  paper  together ;  and  don't  think  I'll  forget 
(your)  orders  because  they  are  friend's;  I'll  be  as  careful  as  if 
they  were  stranger's.* 

The  apron  is  described  as  of  green  silk,  in  a  letter  of 
April  24th.  Later  (October  30th,  1711): 

Who'll  pay  me  for  this  green  apron?  I  will  have  the  money ^ 
it  cost  ten  shillings  and  six  pence.  I  think  it  plaguey  dear  for 
a  cheap  thing,  but  they  said  that  English  silk  would  cockle,  and 
1  know  not  what. 

In  the  following  year  Swift  has  several  more  com- 
missions from  Stella  for  green  aprons  from  the  metropo- 
lis. 

In  1698,  Aberdeen  Meeting  said: 

Let  none  want  aprons  at  all,  and  that  either  green  or  blue, 
or  other  grave  colors,  and  not  white  upon  the  street  or  in  pub- 
lic at  all,  nor  any  spangled  or  speckled  silk  or  cloth  or  any  .silk 
aprons  at  all.  And  dear  Friends,  we  being  persuaded  that  none 
of  a  right  spirit  will  be  so  stiff  or  so  willful  as  to  prefer  their 
own  lusts  or  wills  to  our  tender  sense  or  advice,  and  labor  of 
love  in  these  things.f 

The  Women's  Quarterly  Meeting  of  Lincolnshire, 
21st  of  Fourth  month,  1721,  says: 

We  think  green  aprons  are  very  decent  and  becoming  us  as  a 
people. 

In  1735,  a  young  woman  Friend  named  May  Drum- 
mond,  of  Edinburgh,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  per- 


*  Journal  to  Stella,  April  5th,  1711. 

t  Aberdeen,  "  A  Testimony,"  5  mo.  28th,  1698. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  135 

son  of  attractive  appearance,  and  much  real  ability,  was 
given  an  audience  with.  Queen  Caroline.  An  original 
letter  of  that  date,  from  which  the  following  is  an  ex- 
tract, gives  an  interesting  description  of  her  ministry 
and  personal  appearance,  and  emphasizes  the  green 
apron.  She  is  described  as  preaching  to  audiences  of 
more  than  three  thousand  people.  The  writer  then  goes 
on: 

She  hath  also  been  to  wait  on  the  Queen,  and  was  more  than 
an  hour  in  her  presence.  Att  her  first  coming  in  the  Queen  soon 
began  and  asked  her  many  questions  which  May  was  not  very 
forward  to  answer,  but  after  some  little  pawce  she  began  and  had 
a  good  opportunity  for  near  half  an  hour  (with  Ifttle  interrup- 
tion) To  speake  to  the  Queen  the  Princesses  and  some  Ladys 
of  honour  (so  called)  which  she  and  those  three  friends  who 
accompanied  her  had  good  reason  to  think  was  very  much  to  all 
their  satisfaction  ffor  she  spoke  in  such  a  tender  handsome  and 
moving  manner  that  pretty  much  aflFected  all  present  so  that  I 
believe  that  her  visit  was  not  onely  acceptable  but  of  very  good 
service.  The  Queen  seemed  much  pleased  with  her  plain  dress,  and 
green  apron,  and  often  said  she  thought  it  exceedingly  neat  and 
becoming. 

The  French  country  women  in  the  reign  of  Louis 
XI.  wore  white  aprons  at  work,  or  in  demi-toilette, 
when  going  to  the  town  to  market.  The  negligee  of  1672 
consisted  of  a  black  dress  with  a  white  apron,  and  we 
are  told  by  Boursault  ("  Mots  a  la  Mode  ")  the  name  of 

this  apron : 

L'homme  le  plus  grossier  et  I'esprit  le  plus  lourd, 
Salt  qu'un  "  Laisse-tout-faire  "  est  un  tablier  court. 

After  the  regency  the  apron,  having  had  a  period  of 
disfavor,  reappeared  in  France  on  young  people,  and 
was  a  part  of  ordinary  costume,  the  overdress  being 
abandoned  and  the  apron  worn  with  a  jacket  ("caraco") 
and  a  flounced  skirt.    The  apron  descended  to  the  bor- 


136  THE   QUAKER. 

der  of  the  gown,  liad  pockets,  and  was  trimmed  on  the 
edge.  It  was  without  ends  ("  havettes  "),  a  style  con- 
fined to  chambermaids.*  Miss  Hill  describes  a  lady  of 
Queen  Anne's  day  thus: 

She  -wore  a  black  silk  petticoat  witli  red  and  white  calico 
border,  cherry-colored  stays,  trimmed  with  blue  and  silver,  red 
and  dove-colored  damask  gown  flowered  with  large  trees,  a  yellow 
eatin  apron  trimmed  with  white  Persian,  muslin  head-cloth  with 
crowfoot  edging,  double  ruffles  with  fine  edging,  a  black  silk  fur- 
belowed  scarf  and  a  spotted  hood!  f 

A  bride  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  wore 
a  sprigged  muslin  apron  trimmed  with  lace,  over  a  sil- 
ver muslin  "  night-gown  " — (an  elegant  affair,  probably 
so  called  because  not  worn  at  night).  Nollekin's  wife 
also  wore  on  her  wedding  day  "  an  elegant  lace  apron." 
The  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  saw  the  Paris- 
ians adoring  simplicity,  and  they  took  back  into  favor 
again  the  discarded  white  apron,  which  soon  became  a 
part  of  full  dress.  The  rustic  straw  hat  a  la  shepherdess 
was  in  favor  as  also  in  England,  and  the  gipsy  hat  tied 
down  with  a  ribbon  or  a  silk  handkerchief.  Straw  was 
worn  only  with  morning  dress;  the  time  of  year  mat- 
tered little. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
plainest  women  among  the  Friends  wore  aprons  of  what 
now  seem  very  gay  colors — blue,  green,  etc.  The  rea- 
son for  this  is  that  the  white  apron  was  in  the  height 
of  fashion.  Watson,  the  Annalist,  says,  in  writing  of  a 
period  about  1770: 

The  plainest  women  among  the  Friends  (now  so  averse  to  fancy 
colours),  wore  their  colouied  silk  aprons,  say  of  green  or  blue, 


«  Quicherat,  "  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  pp.  328,  520,  574. 
tGeorgiana  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  73. 


A    STUDY   IK    COSTUME.  I37 

etc.  This  was  at  a  time  when  the  "  gay  "  wore  white  aprons.  In 
time,  white  aprons  were  disused  (by  the  latter),  and  then  the 
Friends  left  off  their  colored  ones  and  used  white. 

A  letter  of  Richard  Shackleton's  *  dated  Ballitore, 
14th  Third  month,  1776,  shows  that  the  green  apron, 
even,  had  its  dangers,  in  its  tendency  to  become  a  spe- 
cial costume  for  wear  on  occasions  of  public  meetings, 
or  during  the  time  of  religious  worship: 

What  shall  I  say  about  these  green  aprons?  I  think  we  are  of 
one  mind  about  them.  I  believe  it  is  the  Master's  mind  that  Hia 
disciples  and  followers  should  be  distinguished  from  the  world 
by  a  singularity  of  external  appearance.  I  suppose  it  is  also 
His  will  that  a  certain  peculiarity  of  habit  should  distinguish 
them  on  the  solemn  occasion  of  assembling  for  Divine  worship, 
or  other  religious  performances. 

When  Sarah,  the  wife  of  George  Dillwjn,  was  in 
London,  in  1784,  she  wrote  to  a  member  of  her  family: 
I  think  the  women  here  far  before  the  men — they  dress  ex- 
tremely neat  and  exact,  a  few  of  the  plainest  with  black  hoods 
and  green  aprons.  Some  go  to  meeting  without  aprons,  but  gen- 
erally carry  fine  muslin  or  cambric  ones  in  their  pockets,  to 
put  on  when  they  get  in  the  house;  if  we  don't  bring  one,  they 
always  offer. 

This  also  shows  us  the  time  of  transition  from  the 
green  to  the  white  apron,  which  did  not  lose  its  hold 
among  the  plainer  Quakeresses  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years. 

The  skirt  of  the  dress  was  worn  with  very  full 
gathers,  soon  followed  by  false  hips,  and  the  natural 
successor  to  this  was  of  course  the  famous  hooped  pet- 
ticoat of  history  and  song,  which  made  its  appearance 
in  1709.  The  crinoline,  or  hoop,  was  invented  by  one 
Mrs.  Selby,  remaining  through  a  longer  period  than  the 

•Quoted  by  R.  Morris  Smith,  "The  Burlington  Smiths,"  p.  157. 


138 


THE   QUAKER. 


old  farthingale,  and  was  eventually  banished  by  George 
IV.*    The  following  appeared  at  Bath  in  1711: 

The  Farthingale  Revived:   or 
More  Work  for  The  Cooper.    A  Panegyrick  on  the  late, 

BUT  most  admirable  INVENTION  OF  THE  HOOPED  PETTICOAT. 

There's  scarce  a  bard  that  writ  in  former  time 

Had  e'er  so  great,  so  bright  a  theme  for  rhyme. 

The  Mantua  swain,  if  living,  would  confess 

Ours  more  surprising  than  his  Tyrian  dress; 

And  Ovid's  mistresSj  in  her  loose  attire, 

Would  cease  to  charm  his  eyes,  or  fan  Love's  fire. 

Were  he  in  Bath,  and  had  these  coats  in  view, 

He'd  write  his  metamorphosis  anew. 

Delia,  fresh  hooped,  would  o'er  his  heart  prevail 

To  leave  Corinna  and  her  tawdry  veil. 

The  hoop  -  petticoat  was,  no 
doubt,  thought  very  fine  in  the 
country.  It  had  the  merit,  which 
many  fashions  did  not  possess,  of 
bestowing  importance  upon  the 
wearer.  "  Insignificant  -  looking 
women,  to  whom  before  nobody 
had  paid  any  attention,  now  came 
into  notice;  and  portly  women  be- 
came positively  awful  in  their  ma- 
jesty  !  "  t 

The  style  had  a  great  revival 
1850-1865,  both  with  gay  and  plain. 

*  The  stomacher  was  an  earlier  garment,  introduced  in  the  fifteenth 
century.    It  was  worn  by  both  sexes,  and  by  King  Edward  IV. 

tA  Popular  Ballad  of  1733. 

What  a  fine  thing  have  I  seen  to-day, 

Oh  Mother,  a  hoop  ! 
I  must  have  one,  you  cannot  say  nay — 

Oh  Mother,  a  hoop  ! 
For  husbands  are  gotten  this  way,  to  be  sure, 
Men's  eyes  and  Men's  hearts  they  so  neatly  allure. 

Oh  Mother,  a  hoop,  a  hoop  ;  Oh  Mother,  a  hoop  ! 

—Percy  Soc,  Vol.  xxvii.,  p.  220. 


1835. 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  139 

There  are  no  doubt  to  be  found  in  the  archives  of 
many  old  Quaker  families  certain  queer  and  very  ugly 
long  jackets  of  a  shapeless  sort  of  pattern,  known  in 
their  day  and  generation  as  a  "  short-gown."  The 
"  short-gowTi  and  petticoat  "  may  be  met  with  in  litera- 
ture occasionally  still,  or  in  the  letters  of  our  great- 
grandmothers.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  the  early 
enthusiasms  over  such  a  thoroughly  inartistic  garment; 
perhaps  feminine  ingenuity  found  an  outlet  in  its  deco- 
ration rather  than  its  outline.  At  all  events,  the  muse 
became  thus  inspired: 

The  Short-Body'd  Gown.     (1801.) 

Last  midsummer  day  Sally  went  to  the  fair, 
For  to  sell  her  yarn.     Oh,  how  she  did  stare! 
Both  wives,  maids  and  widows,  in  every  shop  round, 
They  all  were  dressed  up  in  a  short-body'd  gown! 

So  home  in  the  evening  Miss  Sally  she  hies, 
And  tells  it  her  mother  with  greatest  surprise; 
Saying,  "  Two  hanks  a  day  will  I  spin  the  week  round 
Until  I  can  purchase  a  short-body'd  gown.* 

When  Ann  Warder  landed  in  'New  York,  in  1786, 
she  wrote  to  her  sister  in  London: 

The  women  all  wear  short  gowns,  a  custom  so  truly  ugly  that 
I  am  mistaken  if  I  ever  fall  into  it.  Notwithstanding  they  say  I 
shall  soon  be  glad  to  do  it  on  account  of  the  heat. 

Thomas  Chalkley  was  sufficiently  moved  by  the  hor- 
rors of  the  hoop  to  say: 

If  Almighty  God  should  make  a  woman  in  the  same  shape  her 
hoop  makes  her,  Everybody  would  say  truly  it  was  monstrous. 
So  according  to  this  real  truth  they  make  themselves  monstrous 
by  art. 

» Percy  Society,  Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  264. 


140 


TBE   QUAKER. 


1787. 


The  bodices  worn  at  the  time  that  dress  begins  to  be 
a  subject  for  official  notice  in  meetings  were  laced,  and 
opened  in  front,  exposing  the  tight  stays  in  gay  colors 
worn  beneath  them.     The  bodice  was  cut  very  low,  the 

bosom  being  covered  with  a 
"  tucker  "  or  "  modesty  piece  " 
worn  across  the  top  of  the  bodice 
in  front.  In  1713  we  find  the 
Guardian  growling  at  the  ladies 
who  are  beginning  to  discard  the 
latter  in  order  to  follow  the 
fashion.  The  year  1800  finds  the 
court  ladies  wearing  a  becoming 
broad  muslin  collar  of  very 
"  sheer  "  quality,  and  the  Quak- 
eresses adopted  the  style  quite 
generally,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  two  illus- 
trations of  that  date.  In  1644,  when  gowns  were 
very  decollete,  Quicherat  tells  us  that  the  ladies  wore, 
en  negligee,  a  white  fichu  or  handkerchief,  known  as  the 
"  whisk,"  and  a  linen  or  fine  lace  scarf  for  dress.  This 
simplicity  was  encouraged  by  Anne  of  Austria.  The 
handkerchief  seems  to  have  been  the  one  portion  of  the 
Quakeress  dress  that  has  come  down  unchanged  to  mod- 
ern times. 

Thus  it  was  with  the  "  world's  people,"  and  as 
Quaker  persecution  ceased,  vanity  in  dress  arose,  alas ! 
even  among  them;  poor  Susan  Ponder  was  disowned  for 
"  conforming  to  the  fashions  of  this  wicked  world." 
Aberdeen  Meeting  has  an  elaborate  description  of 
what  is  and  is  not  to  be  suffered  in  men's  and  women's 
dress.     In  1703  the  young  women  came  to  York  Quar- 


.'^:'l-i" 


% 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME.  141 

terly  Meeting  in  long  cloaks  and  the  new  Paris  im- 
portation called  the  "  bonnet."  They  were  therefore 
not  only  ordered  to  take  the  advice  of  their  elders  be- 
fore coming  to  "  these  great  meetings  here  in  York," 
but  one  subordinate  meeting  actually  ordered  the 
young  women  of  its  own  meeting  to  appear  before  it  "in 
those  clothes  that  they  intend  to  have  on  at  York."  * 
However,  neither  this,  nor  the  strict  oversight  of  Aber- 
deen, was  sufficient  in  the  early  years  to  exclude  all 
worldliness;  for  in  1720  we  find  all  these  vanities  noted 
in  the  minutes  of  the  latter  as  existing  among  the 
young  Quakeresses:  "  Quilted  petticoats,  set  out  in  imi- 
tation of  hoops;  cloth  shoes  of  a  light  color,  with  heels 
white  and  red;  scarlet  and  purple  stockings,  and  petti- 
coats made  short  to  expose  them."  In  that  year,  York 
Quarterly  Meeting  sent  the  following  letter  to  the 
monthly  meetings  composing  its  constituency,  which 
was  in  its  turn  sent  to  each  particular  meeting  of 
women.  The  original  from  which  this  is  copied  was 
directed  to  "  the  Women  Friends  of  Rilston  Meeting, 
These."  t 

Att  our  Quarterly  Meeting  held  att  York,  ye  22  &  23  4th.  Mon. 
1720  The  Monthly  Meets,  were  called  &  there  was  thatt  an- 
swered for  all,  either  by  Representatives  or  papers  &  most  gave 
account  thatt  things  were  pretty  well  amongst  them  notwith- 
standing there  are  severall  things  remains  amongst  us  wch  are 
very  Burthensome  to  the  honest-hearted  &  have  been  weightily 
spoken  against  wch  its  Desired  the  Representatives  would  Deliver 
in  the  Wisdom  of  Truth  (viz.)  the  imitating  the  Fashions  of  the 
World  in  their  Headclothes  some  haveing  four  pinner  ends  hang- 


*  Robert  Barclay,  "  Inner  Life  of  the  Religious  Societies  of  the  Com- 
monwealth," p.  491. 

t  Devonshire  House  Collection,  London. 


142  TEE    QUAKER. 

ing  Down*  and  handkerchiefs  being  too  thin  some  haveing  them 
hollowed  out  &  putt  on  farr  of  their  necks  also  their  gown 
sleeves  &  short  capps  wth  a  great  Deal  to  pinn  up  in  the  Skirt 
also  their  Quilted  petticoats  sett  out  in  imitation  of  hoops  some 
wearing  two  together  also  cloth  Shoes  of  light  Colors  bound  wth 
DifTering  colours  and  heels  White  or  Red  wth  White  Bands  and 
fine  Coloured  Clogs  &  strings  also  Scarlet  or  Purple  Stockings  & 
l)etticoats  made  Short  to  Expose  ym.  Friends  are  also  Desired  to 
keep  out  of  the  fashion  of  wearing  black  hats  or  shaving 
[chip]  or  straw  ones  with  crowns  too  little  or  two  large  wth 
wch  else  the  Judgment  of  Truth  is  gone  out  agst. 
Signed  in  behalf  of  the  meeting  by  , « 

Mary  White, 
Sarah  Elam, 
Hannah  Armitstead, 
Tamer  Fielding, 
Mary  Slater. 

The  early  Quaker  women  wore  their  hair,  like  that 
of  the  men,  cut  low  and  straight  on  the  forehead,  and 
braided  or  put  in  a  knot  on  the  top  of  the  head.  It 
was  the  era  when  the  great  commode  was  approaching, 
reaching  its  height  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  This 
perilous  structure  consisted  of  "  a  frame  of  wire  two  or 
three  stories  high,  fitted  to  the  head  and  covered  with 
tiffany  or  rather  thin  silk  now  completed  into  a  head- 
dress." f  The  word  "  commode  "  was  never  used  for 
this  head  dress  in  America. 

Nor  holy  church  is  safe,  they  say, 
Where  decent  veil  was  wont  to  hide 
The  modest  sex'  religious  pride; 
Lest  these  yet  prove  too  great  a  load, 


*  Pinners  appear  to  have  been  the  pendant  ends,  streamers,  or  lap- 
pets, hanging  down  at  the  sides  of  the  face,  or  occasionally  behind — like 
liripipes,"  which  were  longer,  and  always  at  the  back.    These  were 
all  quite  distinct  from  cap  strings. 

t  "  The  Book  of  Costume.    By  a  Lady  of  Quality."     London,  1846. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  I4.3 

'Tis  all  eompris'd  in  the  commode; 

Pins  tipt  with  diamond,  point  and  head. 

By  which  the  curls  are  fastened, 

In  radiant  firmament  set  out. 

And  over  all  the  hood  sur-tout. 

Thus,  face  that  e'rst  near  head  was  plac'd 

Imagine  now  about  the  wast. 

For  tour  on  tour,  and  tire  on  tire, 

Like  steeple  Bow,  or  Grantham  spire, 

Or  Septizonium,  once  at  Eome, 

(But  does  not  half  so  well  become 

Fair  ladies'  head)  you  here  behold 

Beauty  by  tyrant  mode  controU'd.* 

The  articles  required  in  a  lady's  toilet  bore  many 
and  curious  names;  they  were  so  incomprehensible  to 
the  uninitiated,  that  the  following  anecdote  is  most 
amusing: 

A  raw  lass,  being  entertained  in  service,  and  hearing  her  mis- 
tress one  day  call  for  some  of  them,  she  was  so  far  from  bring- 
ing any,  that  she  verily  took  her  to  be  conjuring,  and  hastily  ran 
out  of  the  house,  for  fear  she  should  raise  the  devil!  f 

The  contrast  to  the  Quakeress  may  be  imagined.  A 
French  style  in  favor  at  this  time  also  consisted  of  a 
bandeau  of  jewels  worn  over  flowing  locks  in  negligent 
fashion  on  the  shoulders,  to  match  the  "  love-lock  "  of 
the  men.  The  "  love-lock  "  was  introduced  by  Charles 
I.,  and  consisted  of  a  curl  of  greater  length  than  the 
rest  of  the  hair,  worn  on  the  left  side.  This  soon  be- 
came the  rage.     A  corresponding  lock  with  the  ladies 


*From  "  Mundus  Mulieribns,  or,  The  Ladiea  Dressing-Room 
unlocked,  and  Her  Toilet  spread,"  1670.  Anonymous.  This  is  an  elab- 
orate description  of  women's  costume.  It  is  given  in  the  publications  of 
the  Percy  Society.    Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  190. 

tQuoted  by  Repton,  "  Archaeologia."     Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  56. 


144  THE    QUAKER. 

was  the  "  heart-breaker."  *  The  high  headdress  lasted 
much  later  than  the  love-lock.  In  1698  we  find 
Jonathan  Edwards  rebuking  its  appearance  in  Puritan 
New  England.  The  Puritan  women  are  often  repre- 
sented with  "  banged  "  hair.  The  "  high  head  "  had  a 
period  of  decadence,  and  was  revived  again  in  1715, 
and  Addison  writes  soon  after:  "There  is  not  so 
variable  a  thing  in  nature  as  a  Lady's  headdress;  with- 
in my  memory  I  have  known  it  rise  and  fall  above 
thirty  degrees."  "  I  pretend  not  to  draw  the  quill 
against  that  immense  crop  of  plumes."  The  "  com- 
mode "  killed  itself  by  its  own  extravagance,  the  time 
and  expense  required  to  put  up  one's  hair  becoming  so 
great  that  the  hair-dresser  could  not  make  his  rounds 
to  any  but  the  most  wealthy  oftener  than  once  in  three 
weeks  or  a  month,  leading  one  satirical  writer  of  the 
period  to  remark: 

I  consent  also  to  the  present  style  of  curling  the  hair  so  that 
it  may  stay  a  month  without  combing,  tho'  I  must  confess  that 
I  think  3  weeks  or  a  fortnight  might  be  sufficient  time! 

The  tremendous  "  crop,"  or  turban,  that  all  lovers  of 

"  Cranford  "  will  remember,  was  a  favorite  of  the  ladies 

later  on.     The  moment  a  woman  became  a  Quaker,  the 

fact  was  proclaimed  to  all  the  world  by  her  discarding 

all    extravagant   headdresses.      The    early   Methodists 

were  quite  as  pronounced.     An  old  Norfolk  journal 

has  the  following: 

Several  fine  ladies  who  used  to  wear  French  silks,  French 
hoops,  4  yards  wide,  tete  de  mouton  heads,  and  white  satin 
smock  petticoats,  are  now  turned   Methodists,  and  followers  of 

♦Another  "heart-breaker"  is  described  as  "False  Locks  set  on 
Wyers  to  make  them  stand  at  a  distance,"  about  1670.  They  resembled 
butterfly  wings  over  the  ears. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  X45 

Mr.  Whitefield,  whose  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  has  so  prevailed 
over  them,  that  they  now  wear  plain  stuff  gowns,  no  hoops, 
common  night  mobs,  and  old  plain  bags! 

Stubbes,   from   whom  we   have  before   quoted,   de- 
scribes the  elaborate  coiffure  of  an  elegant  dame: 

Then  followeth  the  trimming  and  tricking  of  their  heades,  in 
laying  out  their  haire  to  the  shewe,  whiche  of  force  must  be 
curled,  fristed,  and  crisped,  laid  out  (a  world  to  see)  on  wreathes 
and  borders,  from  one  eare  to  another.  And  least  it  should  fall 
down,  it  is  vnder  propped  with  forks,  wiers,  and  I  cannot  tell 
what,  like  grim  sterne  monsters,  rather  than  chaste  Christian 
matrones.  Then  on  the  edges  of  their  boulstered  hair  (for  it 
standeth  crested  rounde  their  frontiers,  and  hanging  ouer  their 
faces  like  pcndices  or  uailes,  with  glasse  windowes  on  euery  side) 
there  is  laide  great  wreathes  of  golde  and  siluer  curiously 
wrought,  and  cunningly  applied  to  the  temples  of  their  heades. 
And  for  feare  of  lacking  anything  to  set  forthe  their  pride  with- 
all,  at  their  haire,  thus  wreathed  and  creasted,  are  hanged  bugles 
(I  dare  not  say  babies),  ouches,  ringes,  gold,  siluer,  glasses,  and 
suche  other  childish  gewgaws,  and  foolish  trinkets  besides, 
whiche,  for  they  are  innumerable,  and  I  vnskilfull  in  women's 
termes  I  cannot  easily  expresse.  But  God  giue  them  grace  to 
giue  ouer  their  vanities,  and  studie  to  adorn  their  heades  with 
the  incorruptible  ornaments  of  vertue  and  true  godlinesse. 

The  ancient  London  graveyard  of  the  Friends,  in 
Lower  Redcross  Street,  Southwark,  was  removed  a  few 
years  since,  not  having  had  any  interment  made  in  it 
since  1799.  One  of  the  graves  was  found  to  be  that  of 
a  young  woman  who  wore  on  her  head  a  pad  quite  per- 
fect, such  as  was  customary  at  the  time  to  keep  the  hair 
high  on  the  crown;  and  in  the  mass  of  auburn  hair, 
long  and  fine,  was  a  handsome  tortoise  shell  comb.* 
This  would  indicate  the  tendency,  before  alluded  to, 
for  the  Quakers  to  follow  the  dictates  of  fashion,  even 
at  a  safe  distance.     It  was  a  passing  fancy  in  the  early 

•  Beck  and  Ball,  "  The  London  Friends'  Meetings,"  p.  238. 


146  '^^^   QUAKER. 

days  to  draw  up  the  petticoat  through  the  pocket  hole 
and  other  openings,  thereby  displaying  the  gaiety  of 
that  garment.  We  may  note  the  case  of  the  maid, 
who  being  required  by  John  Bolton,  on  an  order  from 
George  Fox,  to  sew  up  the  slit  in  her  waist-coat  skirt 
behind,  answered  that  she  "  saw  no  evil  in  it;  and 
James  Claypoole  thought  it  suitable  to  their  principle 
that  she  should  first  see  the  evil  in  it  herseK  before  she 
judged  it,  and  not  (saith  he)  because  we  say  it."  * 
Wherein  James  showed  great  discrimination.  The 
Quakeresses  who  wore  the  hair  low  were  really  more 
in  the  French  mode,  the  artistic  sense  of  that  nation 
rebelling  sooner  against  the  rule  of  the  "  commode," 
which  seems  after  the  law  of  contraries  to  have  won  its 
name  from  its  inconvenience,  much  as  the  "  night- 
gown "  and  "  night-cap  "  were  elegant  constructions, 
never  worn  at  night ! 

February  15th,  1765,  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire 
wrote  to  her  mother: 

I  was  too  tired  to  write.  My  sister  and  I  were  very  smart  for 
Carlton  House.  Our  gowns  were  night-gowns  of  my  invention. 
The  body  and  sleeves  black  velvet  bound  with  pink,  and  the 
Bkirt,  apron  and  handkerchie  crape,  bound  with  light  pink,  and 
large  chip  hats  with  feathers  and  pinks.  My  sister  looked  vastly 
pretty. 

Of  course  all  the  Germans  of  the  last  century  were 
devotees  of  the  "  schlafrock,"  which,  however,  was 
emphatically  a  lounging  garment,  a  purpose  with 
which  is  instinctively  associated  all  our  ideas  of  the 
old-time  German  "  Herr  Professor,"  who  never  made 
his  toilet  until  the  working    hours    of    the    day    were 

*"  Tyranny  and  Hypocrisy  Detected."  —  Answer    to  a    pamphlet, 
"  The  Spirit  of  the  Hat."     London,  1673. 


A   STUDY   IN    COSTUME. 


147 


over,  and  not  always  then.  Macbeth  dons  a  "  night- 
gown," and  so  does  Julius  Csesar,  both  being  loose 
robes. 

Henrietta  Maria,  Queen  of  Charles  L,  in  her  well- 
known  portrait  in  the  National  Gallery,  wears  her  hair 
curled,  and  is  seen  in  a  simple  yellow  satin  gown,  with 
broad  lace  at  the  low  neck,  and  at  the  elbow  sleeves. 
She  wears  a  pearl  necklace  and  chain.  Catherine, 
Duchess  of  Queensbury  (ITOO-ITYY), 
the  daughter  of  Lord  Clarendon,  and 
the  patroness  of  Gay,  Prior  and 
others,  called  by  Walpole,  "  Prior's 
Kitty,  ever  young,"  wears  in  her  por- 
trait in  the  National  Gallery  a  cos- 
tume almost  Quaker-like  in  its  sim- 
plicity, with  a  simple  coiffure,  and  a 
kerchief  thrown  over  the  shoulders. 
Gwynn  (1650-1687)  is  simple  in  short  sleeves,  low 
neck,  and  short  curly  hair. 

Thomas  Story,  whose  wide  acquaintance  took  him 
among  the  "  world's  people,"  tells  us  of  an  attempt  he 
made  to  convert  the  Countess  of  Kildare  to  Quaker 
dress : 

It  being  the  Time  of  the  Assizes,  many  of  the  higher  Rank  were 
in  Town  on  that  Occasion,  and  divers  of  our  Friends  being  ac- 
quainted with  several  of  them,  one  Day  came  to  my  Friend 
John  Pike's  to  Dinner,  the  young  Countess  of  Kildare,  and  her 
Maiden  Sister,  and  three  more  of  lesser  Quality  of  the  Gentrj'. 
Upon  this  occasion  we  had  some  free  and  open  Conversation  to- 
gether, in  which  this  Lady  and  the  rest  commended  the  plain 
Dress  of  our  Women,  as  the  most  decent  and  comely,  wishing  it 
were  in  Fashion  among  them.  Upon  this  I  told  her  "  That  she 
and  the  rest  of  her  Quality,  standing  in  Places  of  Eminence, 
were  the  fittest  to  begin  it,  especially  as  they  saw  a  Beauty  in 


1756. 


Even    iSTell 


148  ^^^   QUAKER. 

it;  and  they  would  be  sooner  followed  than  those  of  lower  De- 
gree." To  this  she  replied,  "  If  we  should  Dress  ourselves  Plain, 
People  would  gaze  at  us,  call  us  Quakers,  and  make  us  the  Sub- 
ject of  their  Discourse  and  Town-talk;  and  we  cannot  bear  to 
be  made  so  particular." 

I  answered,  "  The  Cause  is  so  good,  being  that  of  Truth  and 
Virtue,  if  you  will  espouse  it  heartily  upon  its  just  Foundation, 
a  few  of  you  would  dash  out  of  Countenance,  with  a  steady  and 
fixed  Gravity,  Abimdance  of  the  other  Side,  who  have  no  Bottom 
but  the  Vain  Customs  of  The  Times;  and  you  will  find  a  Satis- 
faction in  it,  an  Overbalance  to  all  you  can  lose,  since  the  Works 
of  Virtue  and  Modesty  carry  in  them  an  immediate  and  perpet- 
ual Reward  to  the  Worker."  This  seemed  not  unpleasant,  being 
said  in  an  open  Freedom ;  But  then,  alas !  all  was  quenched  at  last 
by  this;  they  all  of  them  alledged,  "That  our  own  young  Wo- 
men of  any  Note,  about  London  and  Bristol,  went  as  fine  as 
they  with  the  finest  of  Silk  and  Laced  Shoes;  and  when  they 
went  to  Bath,  made  as  great  a  Show  as  any."  Not  knowing 
but  some  Particulars  might  give  too  much  occasion  for  this  Alle- 
gation, it  was  a  little  quenching;  but,  with  some  Presence  of 
llind,  I  replied,  "  I  have  been  lately  at  London  and  Bristol,  and 
also  at  the  Bath,  and  have  not  observed  any  such;  but  at  all 
these  three  Places  generally  indifferent  plain,  and  many  of  them, 
even  of  the  younger  sort,  very  well  on  that  Account ;  But  such 
among  us  who  take  such  Liberties,  go  beside  their  Profession,  and 
are  no  Examples  of  Virtue,  but  a  dishonour  and  Reproach  to  our 
Profession,  and  a  daily  and  perpetual  Exercise  to  us;  and  1  hope 
you  will  not  look  at  the  Worst,  since,  among  us  everywhere,  you 
may  find  better  and  more  general  Examples  of  Virtue  and  Plain- 
ness."    This  they  did  not  deny;  and  so  that  Part  ended.* 

London  Quarterly  Meeting,  in  1717,  issued  a  paper 
in  which  the  women  are  exhorted  not  to  deck  them- 
selves with  "  gaudy  and  costly  apparel,"  nor  to  wear 
'^  gold  chains,  lockets,  necklaces  and  gold  watches  ex- 
posed to  open  view."  The  "  immodest  fashion  of 
hooped  petticoats "  is  condemned;  the  wearing  of 
mourning,  and  worldly  conversation.  "  Likewise  there 
is  a  declension  crept  in  among  us  of  unbecoming  ges- 

*  Thomas  Story,  Journal.     Folio  edition,  p.  533.     1716. 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  I49 

tures  in  cringing  and  bowing  of  the  body  by  way  of 
salutation,  wbich  ought  not  to  be  taught  or  coun- 
tenanced in  our  schools  or  families."  The  document 
then  asks: 

How  shall  any  persons  reputed  Quakers  wearing  extravagant 
wigs,  open  breasts,  their  hats  and  clothes  after  a  beauish  fash- 
ion, gold  chains  Avith  lockets  and  gold  watches  openly  exposed, 
like  the  lofty  dames,  or  hooped  petticoats,  like  the  wanton  wo- 
men, be  distinguished  from  the  loose,  proud  people  of  the  world?* 

Stubbes  had  declared  f  that  the  perfumes  so  prevalent 
at  this  time  were  "  engines  of  pride,  allurements  to 
sinne,  and  provocations  to  vice  !  "  If  cleanliness  is 
next  to  godliness,  old  Stubbes  may  indeed  have  been 
right;  for  the  heavy  odors  in  use  covered  up  a  multi- 
tude of  sins.  The  prevalent  use  of  snuff  made  the  silk 
handkerchief  a  necessity.  A  few  dainty  folk  used 
those  of  cambric.  An  old  advertisement  calls  atten- 
tion to  "  handkerchiefs  that  will  wash  in  a  weak  lather 
of  soap  without  prejudice."  :j:  The  custom  of  ladies 
smoking  was  a  fad  with  the  "  smart  set  "  of  that  day  as 
well  as  our  own.  They  still  painted,  a  custom  which 
Evelyn  (11th  of  May,  1654)  had  noticed  beginning: 
"  I  now  observed  how  the  women  began  to  paint  them- 
selves, formerly  a  most  ignominious  thing." 

As  for  patching,  it  was  universal,  and  evidently  only 
another  "  snare  "  for  the  feminine  Quaker  mind !  We 
learn  from  Pepys  (May  1,  1667)  of  the  patching  of  one 
maid: 

That  which  I  did  see  and  wonder  at  with  reason^  was  to  find 
Pegg  Pen  in  a  new  coach,  with  only  her  husband's  pretty  sister 


*  Beck  and  Ball,  "  London  Friends'  Meetings,"  p.  77. 

t  "Anatomie  of  Abuses,"  p.  200. 

J  Ashton.  "  Social  Life  in  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  p.  118. 


150  TEE    QUAKER. 

[Margaret  Lowther]  with  her,  both  patched  and  very  fine,  and 
in  much  the  finest  coach  in  the  park.  .  .  .  When  we  had  spent 
half  an  hour  in  the  park,  we  went  out  again,  .  .  .  and  so  home, 
where  we  find  the  two  young  ladies  come  home  and  their  patches 
off.     I  suppose  Sir  W.  Pen  do  not  allow  of  them  in  his  sight! 

The  "  stay-maker  "  was  the  companion  of  the  wig- 
maker;  there  are  several  Quakers  whose  names  appear 
in  the  old  London  records  as  "  stay-makers,"  or 
"  bodice-makers."  They  advertised  "  both  wooden 
and  whalebone  corset-busks."  When  the  wig-makers 
ceased  to  be  found  among  the  Quakers,  the  bodice- 
makers  pursued  their  way  alone,  that  trade  not  being 
under  condemnation,  which  only  served  to  ruin  the 
health,  and  was  less  conspicuous  than  the  wig.  "  Fash- 
ion babies  "  have  been  alluded  to;  these  merit  more 
than  a  passing  notice.  They  were  models  of  costume, 
originally  sent  by  Paris  modistes  to  London  and  other 
cities  of  large  population,  displaying  the  very  latest 
ideas  in  dress.  The  fashion  plate  was  then  far  in  the 
future,  and  even  the  Quakers  employed  this  method 
of  communicating  their  ideas  as  to  the  "  proper  thing  " 
in  drab  to  their  country  friends,  or,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  doll  model  that  was  given  to  Stephen  Grellet,  to 
other  communities  of  their  own  sect. 

Several  of  these  dolls  have  been  kindly  loaned  me 
for  examination.  Just  as  Mademoiselle  Martin,  a 
famous  modiste  of  the  time  of  Marie  Antoinette,  was  in 
the  habit  of  sending  doll  models  of  the  latest  style, 
called  "  babies,"  to  the  most  distant  parts  of  Europe, 
so  these  quaint  little  Quaker  dolls  served  to  show  the 
distant  friend  what  was  worn  at  the  metropolis.  There 
were,  as  we  have  seen,  many  changes  of  style  in  Quaker 
dress.     The  difference  between  them  and  the  "  world's 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  151 

people  "  lay  in  the  magnitude  and  profundity  of  the 
question,  relatively  speaking;  for  quite  as  much 
thought  and  expenditure  of  time  and  money  went 
into  the  alteration  of  a  pleat  in  the  Quaker  bonnet,  or 
a  flap  on  the  Quaker  coat,  as  ever  entered  into  the  con- 
struction of  a  Paris  "  confection."  Of  these  models — 
for  it  is  a  mistake  to  call  them  dolls,  since  they  were 
anything  but  toys — one,  for  instance,  is  in  the  exact 
dress  of  Rebecca  Jones,  a  well-known  Philadelphia 
Friend,  who  lived  from  1739  to  1818,  She  wears  the 
bonnet  with  soft  crown  and  a  very  large  cape  spreading 
in  three  points  down  the  back  and  to  the  tip  of  each 
shoulder.  The  crown  of  another  bonnet  made  about 
1790,  still  extant,  has  a  double  box-pleat  at  top  in  cen- 
ter and  four  pleats  down  the  side,  clearly  showing  the 
coming  stiff  pleats  in  the  "  coal-scuttle  "  of  later  de- 
velopment. "  Patty  Rutter  "  is  also  a  doll  with  a  seri- 
ous purpose,  dressed  in  1782  by  Miss  Sarah  Rutter,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  sent  to  Mrs.  Samuel  Adams,  of 
Quincy,  Massachusetts.  It  was  presented  to  the 
Museum  in  Independence  Hall  in  1845.  The  doll  is 
in  Quaker  dress,  consisting  of  white  silk  bonnet  and 
shawl,  and  drab  silk  gown.  At  her  side  hangs  a  chate- 
laine, with  watch  and  pencil.  The  doll  and  her  cos- 
tume are  still  intact.  The  most  interesting  of  all  these 
models,  however,  is  that  of  the  Grellet  family.  Ste- 
phen Grellet  was  a  famous  French  Quaker,  who,  as 
Etienne  de  Grellet  du  Mabillier,  escaped  from  Limoges, 
his  patrician  father's  home,  at  the  time  of  the  French 
revolution,  and  with  a  brother  took  refuge  in  America. 
Meeting  with  the  Quakers,  he  became  convinced  of 
their  principles,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  one 


152  ^^^    QUAKER. 

of  their  most  famous  preachers.  He  was  in  England 
in  the  year  1816,  intending  to  visit  the  French  at  Con- 
genies  in  France,  where  was  a  little  community  re- 
markably in  sympathy  -^dth  the  Friends,  although  hav- 
ing had  no  communication  with  them  originally.  Eng- 
lish Friends  desired  to  aid  his  efforts  to  build  up  their 
small  meeting.  The  Quaker  women  of  London,  there- 
fore, made  and  dressed  for  them  a  model  in  wax  of  a 
properly  gowned  woman  Friend.  Some  untoward 
event  recalled  the  preacher  to  his  American  home  be- 
fore he  succeeded  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  original 
purpose.  Upon  his  arrival,  the  doll  was  discovered, 
to  his  astonishment,  in  one  of  his  trunks.  When 
he  wrote  to  ask  how  to  dispose  of  the  doll,  the 
reply  was:  "Give  her  to  thy  little  daughter."  That 
"  little  daughter,"  living  in  Xew  Jersey  until  July, 
1901,  to  the  great  age  of  ninety  years,  was  herseK  the 
authority  for  this  story  of  "  Rachel,"  as  the  beautiful 
doll  has  always  been  called.  The  fine  rolled  hem  of  the 
cap-border  bears  witness  to  the  exquisite  needle-work 
of  the  last  century. 

An  increasing  manifestation  of  the  love  of  dress  was 
marked  throughout  the  colonies.  The  Friends  from 
England  noted  this  with  an  anxious  eye,  and  in  nearly 
all  the  meetings  in  America  may  be  found  records  deal- 
ing with  that  tendency.  Finally,  Friends  of  Philadel- 
phia Yearly  Meeting,  then  held  at  Burlington,  New 
Jersey,  issued  the  following  note  of  warning: 

From  Women   ffriends  at  the   Yearly   Meeting  held  at  Bur- 
lington, The  21st.  of  the  7th.  Month,  1726. 

To  Women  ffriends  at  the  Several  Quarterly  &  Monthly  Meet- 
ings belonging  to  the  same, — Greeting. 


A   STUDY  IX   COSTUME.  153 

Dear  and  Well-beloved  Sisters: 

A  Weighty  Concern  coming  upon  many 
ffaithful  ffriends  at  this  Meeting,  In  Relation  to  divers  undue 
Liberties  that  are  too  frequently  taken  by  some  yt.  walck  among 
us,  &  are  Accounted  of  us,  We  are  Willing  in  the  pure  Love  of 
Truth  wch.  hath  Mercifully  Visited  our  Souls,  Tenderly  to  Cau- 
tion &  Advise  ffriends  against  those  things  which  we  think  In- 
consistent with  our  Ancient  Christian  Testimony  of  Plainness  in 
Apparel  &c..  Some  of  which  we  think  it  proper  to  Particularize. 

As  first,  That  Immodest  ffashion  of  hooped  Pettycoats,  or  ye. 
imitation  of  them.  Either  by  Something  put  into  their  Petty- 
coats  to  make  ym  sett  full,  or  Wearing  more  than  is  Necessary, 
or  any  other  Imitation  Whatsoever,  Which  we  take  to  be  but  a 
Branch  Springing  from  ye.  same  Corrupt  root  of  Pride. 

And  also  That  None  of  Sd  ffriends  Accustom  themselves  to 
wear  their  Gowns  with  Superfluous  ffolds  behind,  but  plain  and 
Decent.  Nor  to  go  without  Aprons,  Nor  to  wear  Superfluous 
Gathers  or  Pleats  in  their  Capps  or  Pinners,  Nor  lo  wear  their 
heads  drest  high  behind.  Neither  to  Cut  or  Lay  their  hair  on  ye 
fforehead  or  Temples. 

And  that  ffriends  are  careful  to  avoid  Wearing  of  Stript  Shoos, 
or  Red  or  White  heel'd  Shoos,  or  Clogs,  or  Shoos  trimmed  wh. 
Gawdy  Colours. 

Likewise,  That  all  ffriends  be  Careful  to  Avoid  Superfluity  of 
Furniture  in  their  Houses,  And  as  much  as  may  be  to  refrain 
Using  Gawdy  floured  or  Stript  Callicos  and  Stuffs. 

And  also  that  no  ffriends  Use  ye  Irreverent  practice  of  tak- 
ing Snuff,  or  handing  Snuff  boxes  one  to  Another  in  Meetings. 

Also  That  ffriends  Avoid  ye  Unnecessary  use  of  ffans*  in  Meet- 
ings, least  it  Divert  ye  mind  frona  ye  more  Inward  &  Spiritual 
Exercise  wch.  all  ought  to  be  Concern'd  in. 

And  also  That  ffriends  do  not  Accustom  themselves  to  go  in 
bare  Breasts  or  bare  Necks. 

There  is  Likewise  a  Tender  Concern  upon  or  minds  to  recom- 
mend unto  all  ffriends,  the  Constant  use  of  ye  plain  Language 
It  being  a  Branch  of  our  Ancient  Christian  Testimony,  for  wch. 
many  of  or  Worthy  Elders  underwent  deep  Sufferings  in  their 
Day  As  they  Likewise  Did  because  they  could  not  give  ye  Com- 

*"  Ffans"  first  came  to  New  England  in  1714,  so  were  not  new  in 
Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  at  this  time,  although  they  were  not  in 
common  use  before  1750,  and  the  Friends  considered  them  very  gay. 


154  ^'^^    QUAKER. 

mon   Salutation  by  Bowing  and  Cringing  of  ye  Body  wch.  we 
Earnestly  desire  flFriends  may  be  Careful  to  Avoid. 

And  we  farther  Tenderly  Advise  and  Exhort  That  all  ffriends 
be  careful  to  Maintain  Love  and  Unity  and  to  Watch  against 
Whispering  and  Evil  Surmisings  One  against  Another,  and  to  keep 
in  Humility,  That  Nothing  be  done  through  Strife  or  Vainglory, 
and  yt.  those  who  are  Concerned  to  take  an  oversight  over  the 
flflock.  Do  it  not  as  Lords  over  God's  heritage,  but  as  Servants 
to  ye  Churches. 

Dear  Sisters,  These  Things  we  Solidly  recommend  to  yor  Care 
and  Notice  In  a  Degree  of  yt.  Divine  Love  wch  hath  previously 
Manifested  Itself  for  ye  Redemption  of  a  [MS.  illegible]  ye  Vain 
Conversations,  Customs,  &  Fashions  yt.  are  in  ye  World,  That- 
we  might  be  unto  ye  Lord,  A  Chosen  Generation,  A  Royal  Priest- 
hood, An  Holy  Nation,  A  Peculair  People,  Shewing  forth  ye 
Praises  of  him  who  hath  called  us  out  of  Darkness  into  his  Mar- 
vellous Light,  that  We  may  all  walck  as  Children  of  the  Light. 
&  of  ye  Day,  Is  ye  Earnest  Desire  of  our  Souls. 

We  Conclude  wth.  ye  Salutation  of  Unfeigned  Love,  yor  ffriends 
and  Sisters. 

Signed  on  behalf  &  by  ordr.  of  ye  sd.  Meeting  By 

Hannah  Hill. 

The  "  surprise  "  fan  was  made  with  an  unexpected 
joint,  like  the  early  parasols.  Ann  Warder  notes  the 
constant  and  needless  use  of  fans,  and  with  some  com- 
placency, remarks  upon  her  own  forbearance  in  the  mat- 
ter, "  lest  it  should  prove  a  disturbance  to  others." 
Only  two  days  after  her  arrival  from  England,  under 
date  9th  of  June,  1786,  she  wrote,  "  Such  a  general  use- 
of  fans  my  eyes  never  beheld.  You  scarcely  see  a 
woman  without  one.  And  in  winter,  I  am  told,  they 
visit  with  them  as  a  plaything."  She  noticed  a. 
child  with  a  dirty  face  playing  in  the  street.  The 
mother  "  did  not  wash  its  face  in  the  daytime  for  fear 
of  spoiling  its  complexion  !  "  "  Their  mode  of  dress- 
ing children  in  Philadelphia,"  she  regards,  as  "  not  so 
becoming  as  with  us.     I  have  scarcely  seen  a  White 


A    STUDY   7A'    COSTUME.  155 

Frock  since  my  arrival.  !N^ot  a  woman  has  visited  me 
but  was  elegant  enough  for  any  Bride,  indeed  we  could 
almost  persuade  ourselves  that  was  the  case  from  so 
much  saluting." 

No  costume  was  more  important  for  the  Quaker 
woman  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
than  that  designed  for  use  on  horseback.  This  was 
even  more  the  case  in  the  colonies  than  in  England, 
where,  in  London,  at  least,  the  sedan  chair  and  the 
coach  were  cosmopolitan  luxuries  enjoyed  very  early. 
Country  Friends,  however,  had  to  ride  everywhere,  and 
a  woman,  and  especially  a  woman  minister,  if  she  trav- 
eled at  all,  must  of  necessity  be  a  good  horsewoman. 
The  riding  hood,  with  cape  or  long  cloak  attached — 
called  a  "  Nithesdale  "  or  "  Capuchin,"  respectively — 
was  worn  over  the  ordinary  dress,  the  skirt  of  which 
was  often  protected  by  a  "  safeguard."  Mrs.  Earle 
defines  a  "  safeguard "  as  an  "  outside  petticoat  of 
heavy  linen  or  woollen  stuff,  worn  over  other  skirts  to 
protect  them  from  mud  in  riding  on  horseback."  Ann 
Warder  wrote  of  the  Quaker  women  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  1786,  "  They  are  very  shiftable.  They  ride  by  them- 
selves with  a  safeguard,  which,  when  done  with,  is  tied 
to  the  saddle,  and  the  horse  hooked  to  a  rail,  standing 
all  meeting  time  as  still  as  their  riders  sit."  The 
"  safeguard  "  seems  to  have  disappeared  in  New  Eng- 
land after  1750,  indicating  the  introduction  of  the  rid- 
ing habit,  which  was  appearing  in  England,  and  excit- 
ing the  ridicule  of  the  cynical  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,* 

*  "I  did  not  like  [Miss  Forester],  although  she  be  a  toast  and  was 
dressed  like  a  man."  Swift,  Journal  to  Stella,  August  11th,  1711.  The 
riding  habit,  which  was  the  dress  Swift  alluded  to,  had  just  come  in. 
Pepys,  1666,  had  also  described  the  ladies  in  the  galleries  at  Whitehall, 
in  doublets,  with  periwigs  and  hats. 


156 


THE    QUAKER. 


and  others.  The  flat  beaver  hat,  with  very  broad  brim, 
and  crown  not  two  inches  in  height,  was  much 
worn  for  riding,  and  its  contemporary  cloak  is  of 
heavy  grey  stuff,  the  originals  from  which  the  illus- 
tration was  taken  being  known  to  be  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  old. 

An  accompaniment  of  the  riding  costume  was  the 
riding-mask,  vizor,  or,  as  usually  written,  "  vizzard." 


It  was  of  this  that  Fox  wrote,  "Away  with  your  un- 
necessary buttons,"  "  your  skimming-dish  hats," 
"  vizzards,^'  etc.  He  is  probably  referring  also  to  the 
"  vizzard  "  which  was  used  as  well  in  walking,  and  at 
one  time  worn  hanging  by  a  ribbon  or  cord  at  the  side. 
In  1645,  we  are  told,  the  Puritans  of  Plymouth,  Mass., 
for  "  some  unaccountable  reason,"  forbade  them  to 
their  people.  We  should  think  that  the  reason  of 
extravagance  might  have  proved  as  sufficient  with 
them  as  with  the  Quakers.  For  old  Stubbes,  not  long 
before    this,    had   been    making   his    ultra-Puritanical 


A    STUDY   IX   COSTUME.  15 - 

Strictures  on  almost  all  varieties  of  English  dress,  and 
he  thus  scores  the  ^■iso^s: 

When  thev  vse  to  ride  abroad,  they  haue  visors  made  of  veluet 
(or  in  mv  iudgment  they  may  rather  be  called  inuisories)  where- 
with they  couer  all  their  faces,  haning  holes  made  in  them 
agaynst  their  eies,  whereout  they  looke.  So  that  if  a  man 
that  knew  not  their  guise  before,  shoulde  chaunce  to  meete  one 
of  theme,  he  would  thinke  he  mette  a  monster  or  a  deuill:  for 
face  he  can  see  none,  but  two  broad  holes  against  their  eyes 
with  glasses  in  them.  Thus  they  prophane  the  name  of  God,  and 
liue  in  all  kinde  of  voluptuousnesse  and  pleasure,  worse  than 
euer  did  the  heathen.* 

The  mystery  of  their  attachment  while  riding,  with 
possibly  both  hands  occupied  with  a  restless  horse,  is 
solved  by  learning  that  the  article  had  a  silver  mouth- 
piece, by  which  the  teeth  of  the  wearer  held  it  in  place, 
leaving  her  free  to  grasp  the  reins  or  the  pillion,  as 
the  case  might  be.  There  was  no  protection  from  rain 
or  sleet  in  those  davs  before  the  umbrella,  and  a  rainv- 
day  costume  was  imperative.  All  sorts  of  devices  were 
permissible. 

Good  housewives  all  the  winter^s  rage  despise, 

Defended  by  the  riding-hood's  disguise. 

Why  should  I  teach  the  maid,  when  torrents  pour 
Her  head  to  shelter  from  the  sudden  shower? 
Nature  will  best  her  ready  hand  inform 
With  her  spread  petticoat  to  fence  the  storm. 

Gay.  "Trivia." 

Reference  has  elsewhere  been  made  to  the  gay  color- 
ing of  the  clothing  among  the  early  Puritans  in  Xew 
England,  but  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
their  garb  was  generally  as  "  sad  "  in  color  as  their  or- 
dinary life  was  in  tone.     A  pleasant  contrast  to  them 

•Philip  Srubbes,  "  Anatomic  of  Abuses/'  p.  76.    Ed.  15S6. 


158  THE    QUAKER. 

are  the  liomelj  Dutch  Vrouws  of  I^ew  Amsterdam, 
who  wore  gowns  of  the  gayest  tints,  as  they  went 
clinking  along  the  streets  in  their  heavy  footgear.  The 
Quaker  women  of  the  colonies  seem  to  have  more  in 
common  with  the  latter  than  with  the  Puritans,  despite 
their  sobriety  of  living.  Scarlet  cloaks  found  their 
way  to  America  very  early  in  the  history  of  Penn's 
colony,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  much  latitude  in 
dress.  The  wealthy  women  Friends  in  Pennsylvania 
in  the  days  of  the  Pounder,  dressed  far  more  expen- 
sively and  elaborately  than  they  ever  did  at  a  later 
date;  they  flourished  about  in  "white  satin  petticoats, 
worked  in  flowers,  pearl  satin  gowns,  or  peach-colored 
satin  cloaks;  their  white  necks  were  covered  with  deli- 
cate lawn,  and  they  wore  gold  chains  and  seals,  en- 
graven with  their  arms."  Miss  Pepplier  tells  us  that 
Sarah  Logan  Norris,  the  wife  of  Isaac  ISTorris,  of  Fair- 
hill,  wore  a  gown  of  deep  blue.  Mary,  the  daughter 
of  Thomas  Lloyd,  who  married  Isaac  ISTorris,  the  elder, 
wore  blue  and  crimson;  while  her  granddaughter, 
Mary  Dickinson,  wore  deep  red.  All  these  women 
were  Quakers  of  the  best  families  in  the  country.  It 
is  worth  while  to  note  that  the  daughter  of  Mary  Dick- 
inson, Maria  Logan,  was  far  more  plain  than  her 
mother  or  grandmother  had  been,  sho^ving  a  growing 
tendency  of  the  Quakers  to  emphasize  plainness,  and  an 
increasing  attention  to  uniformity  of  garb  among  their 
members.  The  presence  of  the  Founder  seems  to  have 
had  much  the  effect  of  the  residence  of  the  sovereign 
in  a  small  estate.  His  courtly  dress  and  manners  had 
their  inevitable  effect  upon  the  Quakers,  whether  in 
London  or  Philadelphia;  and  had  it  been  possible  to 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  159 

prolong  his  life  through  the  next  century,  his  people 
might  have  been  spared  much  of  their  narrow  policy, 
political  as  well  as  social,  by  the  aid  of  his  sane  and  ex- 
perienced advice.  There  is  universal  testimony  to 
the  beauty  and  picturesqueness  of  the  young  Quaker- 
esses of  the  aristocracy  in  the  early  days.  The  por- 
trait of  "  The  Fair  Quaker,"  Hannah  Middleton  Gur- 
ney,  whose  costume  was  identical  with  that  of  Gulielma 
Springett,  William  Penn's  first  wife,*  is  that  of  a  sur- 
passingly handsome  woman;  and  the  Frenchman,  Bris- 
sot,  wrote  of  the  Philadelphia  Quakeresses  many  years 
after  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  when  dress  was 
plainer  among  them : 

These  youthful  creatures  whom  nature  has  so  well  endowed, 
whose  charm  has  so  little  need  of  art,  wear  the  finest  muslins  and 
silks.  Oriental  luxury  would  not  disdain  the  exquisite  textures 
in  which  they  take  delight. 

The  Frenchman  did  not  fail  to  admire  anything  so 
artistic,  and  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld  is  the  next 
to  express  himseK,  adding,  "  Ribbons  please  the  young 
Quakeresses,  and  are  the  greatest  enemies  of  the 
■sect."  f 

Many  agreed  with  the  writer  who  not  long  before 

had  said: 

Behold  the  smart  Quaker  that  looks  in  the  glass, 

Her  hair  doth  all  other  companions  surpass; 

You  deform  your  sweet  faces,  I  vow  and  declare; 

You  should  cut  off  your  lappets  and  burn  your  false  hair.t 

♦See  explanatory  note  regarding  this  portrait  in  Maria  Webb's 
"  Penns  and  Penningtons  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  to  which  the 
engraving  of  "  Guli "  Penn  forms  the  frontispiece.  It  is  quite  distinct 
from  the  engraving  with  the  same  title,  here  reproduced. 

t Agnes  Eepplier,  "Philadelphia;  The  Place  and  the  People," 
p.  286. 

X  "  The  Mountain  of  Hair,"  1760.    Percy  See.     Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  245. 


160  3"J?£   QUAKER. 

Onr  great-grandmothers,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
clothes  that  have  come  down  to  us,  were,  as  a  rule, 
smaller  women  than  the  average  in  these  days  of  their 
tall  and  athletic  descendants. 

The  private  Diary  of  Ann,  wife  of  James  Whitall, 
of  Red  Bank,  New  Jersey,  under  date,  21st  12  mo., 
1760,  has  the  following: 

Oh,  win  there  ever  be  a  Nehemiah  raised  at  our  meeting  to 
mourn  and  grieve!  Oh,  the  fashions  and  running  into  them!  The 
young  men  wearing  their  hats  set  up  behind,  and  next  it's  likely 
will  be  a  ribbon  to  tie  their  hair  up  behind;  the  girls  in  Penn- 
sylvania have  their  necks  set  off  with  a  black  ribbon;  a  sor- 
rowful sight  indeed!  .  .  .  There  is  this  day  Josiah  Albertson's 
son,  all  the  son  he  has,  and  his  hat  is  close  up  behind! 

A  little  later,  3  mo.  18,  1762: 
Oh,  I  think,  could  my  eyes  run  down  with  tears  always  for 
the  abomination  of  the  times.  So  much  excess  of  tobacco;  and 
tea  is  as  bad,  so  much  of  it,  and  they  will  pretend  they  can't 
do  without  it;  and  there  is  the  calico — Oh,  the  calico!  ...  I  think 
tobacco  and  tea  and  calico  may  all  be  set  down  with  the  negroes, 
one  as  bad  as  the  other.* 

The  mournful  strain  in  which  the  above  is  written 
was  somewhat  characteristic  of  the  more  sober  plain 
folk  among  the  Quakers  of  the  last  century.  Many 
old  letters  exist  in  which  are  recorded  prolonged  wails 
and  groanings  in  spirit  over  bonnet  strings,  hat-bands, 
shoe-buckles,  and  such  momentous  matters,  all  treated 
with  the  utmost  gravity.  Great  interests  were  at 
stake  in  both  England  and  America  at  these  periods; 
but  the  Friends  withdrew  themselves  from  contact 
with  outside  interests  of  all  sorts;  and  this,  in  addition 
to  the  greater  isolation  of  each  little  community  than 
in  modern  times,  due  to  the  difficulty  of  travel,  tended 

•Hannah  Whitall  Smith,  "  The  Life  of  John  M.  Whitall." 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  161 

to  cultivate  a  feeling  of  their  own  importance  in  the 
world,  and  to  the  exaggeration  of  details  in  their  little 
neighborhoods;  so  that  the  appearance  of  a  man  on  the 
street  with  a  new  cock  to  his  hat,  or  of  a  young  woman 
\vith  a  black  ribbon  at  her  neck,  shook  the  community 
to  its  foundations !  It  is  amusing  to  read,  in  the  edi- 
tor's comments  on  the  above  diary,  that  at  the  very 
time  the  writer  was  so  bewailing  the  worldliness  of  a 
black  ribbon,  she  herself  sat  under  the  gallery  of 
Woodbury  meeting,  arrayed  in  a  straw  bonnet  lined 
with  pink  silk !  After  all,  there  is  no  standard  of  per- 
fect plainness.     The  matter  is  entirely  a  relative  one. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1771,  Isaac  Collins,  of  Bur- 
lington, ISJ".  J.,  married  Rachel  Budd,  of  Philadelphia, 
at  the  "  Bank  Meeting,"  in  that  city.  His  wedding 
dress  was  a  coat  of  peach  blossom  cloth,  the  great  skirts 
of  which  had  outside  pockets;  it  was  lined  throughout 
with  quilted  white  silk.  The  large  waistcoat  was  of 
the  same  material.  He  wore  small  clothes,  knee  buck- 
les, silk  stockings  and  pumps — a  cocked  hat  sur- 
mounted the  whole.  The  bride,  who  is  described  as 
"  lovely  in  mind  and  person,"  wore  a  light  blue  bro- 
cade, shoes  of  the  same  material,  with  very  high  heels 
— not  larger  at  the  sole  than  a  gold  dollar — and  sharp- 
ly pointed  at  the  toes.  Her  dress  was  in  the  fashion 
of  the  day,  consisting  of  a  robe,  long  in  the  back,  with 
a  large  hoop.  A  short  blue  bodice  with  a  white  satin 
stomacher  embroidered  in  colors,  had  a  blue  cord  laced 
from  side  to  side.  On  her  head  she  wore  a  black  mode 
hood  lined  with  white  silk,  the  large  cape  extending 
over  the  shoulders.  Upon  her  return  from  meeting 
after  the  ceremony,  she  put  on  a  thin  white  apron  of 


1(32  TEE   QUAKER. 

ample  dimensions,  tied  in  front  with  a  large  blue  bow. 
The  gaiety  of  this  display  positively  takes  our  breath, 
particularly  when  we  reflect  that  the  bride  had  once 
belonged  in  John  Woolman's  o^vn  meeting.  And  yet, 
it  only  serves  to  show  that  the  entire  question  of  dress 
is  relative,  custom  and  precedent  usually  dictating 
what  is  unlawful,  the  whole  matter  being  arbitrary 
to  a  startling  degree.  Our  heart  goes  out  to  this  beau- 
tifully picturesque  Quaker  couple,  of  whom  the  groom 
was  already  making  a  name  for  himself  in  the  printer's 
art,  and  who  shortly  after  issued  the  colonial  currency 
of  ISTew  Jersey  in  connection  with  the  greater  Frank- 
lin.* Apparently,  the  plain  Friends  were  so  accus- 
tomed to  brilliant  dressing  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Philadelphia,  a  very  gay  town  in  that  day,  that  they 
did  not  take  alarm  at  the  colors  introduced  on  this  oc- 
casion, despite  all  they  had  said  and  written  on  the 
subject  of  dress  in  their  official  character. 

That  the  younger  Quakers  followed  the  changes  of 
Dame  Fashion  has  been,  we  think,  fully  demon- 
strated. The  wedding  of  Isaac  Collins  and  Rachel 
Budd  carried  out  the  styles  then  prevailing.  The  ideal 
painting  by  Percy  Bigland,  "A  Quaker  Wedding,"  his- 
torically correct  in  its  representation,  shows  a  dress 
plainly  influenced  by  the  times,  as  the  "  empire " 
gown  of  the  bride  indicates.  The  "  Two  Friends," 
belongs  to  the  years  between  1835  and  1840,  and  since 
that  time  the  present  generation  can  refer  to  the  cos- 
tumes of  their  own  parents.  Older  people  have  worn 
the  modern  plain  bonnet  and  shawl  for  fifty  or  sixty 

*  I  am  indebted  to  the  great-granddaughter  of  this  picturesque  couple 
for  the  description,  which  is  authentic. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  163 

years.  Before  that  time,  the  same  bonnet  had  a  soft 
crown;  and  a  long  hooded  cloak — cloth  in  winter  and 
silk  in  summer — was  substituted  for  the  shawl.  The 
Quakers  have  always  shown  their  exquisite  taste  in 
choice  of  materials,  and  have  instinctively  realized 
that  nothing  but  the  best  stuffs  would  lend  themselves 
with  dignity  to  the  severe  simplicity  of  their  garb. 
This  could  have  been  better  realized  some  thirty  years 
ago,  when  each  of  our  great  cities  supported  at  least 
one  large  shop  where  Quaker  goods  exclusively  were 
sold.  The  fact  that  the  Quakers  can  now  be  served  at 
any  shop  speaks  volumes  for  either  their  deterioration 
or  their  progress — depending  upon  one's  point  of  view. 
By  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  Philadelphia  far  sur- 
passed all  other  towns  in  the  colonies  with  its  extrava- 
gance and  luxury  of  living,  winding  up  with  the  "  Mes- 
chianza " — that  pageant  whose  tradition  is  still  re- 
hearsed in  the  ears  of  modern  townsfolk,  sounding 
more  like  a  page  from  the  fairy  tales  of  the  Middle 
Ages  than  actual  happenings  in  the  city  of  Penn.  A 
Hessian  officer,  writing  of  the  ladies  of  America  at  that 
time,  says,* 

They  are  great  admirers  of  cleanliness,  and  keep  themselves  well 
shod.  They  friz  their  hair  every  day  and  gather  it  up  on  the 
back  of  the  head  into  a  chignon,  at  the  same  time  puffing  it  up 
in  front.  They  generally  walk  about  with  their  heads  uncovered, 
and  sometimes  but  not  often  wear  some  light  fabric  on  their 
hair.  Now  and  then  some  country  nymph  has  her  hair  flowing 
down  behind  her,  braided  with  a  piece  of  ribbon.  Should  they 
go  out,  even  though  they  be  living  in  a  hut,  they  throw  a  silk 
wrap  about  themselves  and  put  on  gloves.  They  also  put  on 
some  well  made  and  stylish  little  sunbonnet,  from  which  their 
roguish  eyes  have  a  most  fascinating  way  of  meeting  yours.    In 

*  Alice  Morse  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colomal  Times,"  p.  31. 


164 


THE    QUAKER. 


the  English  colonies  the  beauties  have  fallen  in  love  with  red 
silk  or  woolen  wraps. 

A  letter  of  Miss  Kebecea  Franks,  a  Philadelphia 
belle  visiting  in  ISTew  York  in  1778,  speaks  thus  of  so- 
ciety there  in  that  year : 

You  can  have  no  idea  of  the 
life  of  continued  amusement  I  live 
in.  I  can  scarce  have  a  moment 
to  myself.  I  have  stole  this  while 
everybody  is  retired  to  dress  for 
dinner.  I  am  but  just  come  from 
under  Mr.  J.  Black's  hands,  and 
most  elegantly  dressed  am  I  for 
91  ball  this  evening  at  Smith's, 
where  we  have  one  every  Thurs- 
day. .  .  .  The  dress  is  more  redicu- 
lous  and  pretty  than  anything  I 
ever  saw— a  great  quantity  of 
different  coloured  feathers  on  the 
head  at  a  time  beside  a  thousand 
other  things.  The  hair  dressed 
very  high,  in  the  shape  Miss  Vin- 
ing's  was  the  night  we  returned 
from  Smith's — the  Hat  we  found 
in  your  Mother's  closet  wou'd  be 
of  a  proper  size.  I  have  an  after- 
noon cap  with  one  wing,  tho'  I  assure  you  I  go  less  in  the  fashion 
than  most  of  the  ladies — no  being  dressed  without  a  hoop. 

The  Journal  of  Elizabeth  Drinker,  of  Philadelphia, 
under  date  "  December  15,  1777,"  says: 

Peggy  York  called  this  morning.  .  .  .  She  had  on  the  highest 
and  most  rediculous  headdress  that  I  have  yet  seen. 


1776. 

(After  Martin.) 


A  little  later,  July  4,  1778: 

A  very  high  headdress  was  exhibited  thro'  ye  streets  this  af- 
ternoon, on  a  very  dirty  woman,  with  a  mob  after  her  with 
drums  etc.  by  way  of  ridiculing  that  very  foolish  fashion. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  165 

In  1786  Ann  Warder's  Journal  describes  similar  ex- 
travagance : 

"  Came  to  call " — a  fine  girl  called  the  perfection  of  America 
but  her  being  drest  fantastical  to  the  greatest  degree  and  painted 
like  a  doll  destroyed  every  pretension  to  Beauty,  in  my  mind. 

Such  extravagance  recalls  the  old  poem: 

The  Labies'  Head-Dress. 

Give  Chloe  a  bushel  of  horse-hair  and  wool. 

Of  paste  and  pomatum  a  pound, 
Ten  yards  of  gay  ribbon  to  deck  her  sweet  skull. 

And  gauze  to  encompass  it  round. 

Of  all  the  bright  colours  the  rainbow  displays 

Be  those  ribbons  which  hang  on  her  head, 
Be  her  flounces  adapted  to  make  the  folks  gaze. 

And  about  the  whole  work  be  they  spread. 

Let  her  flaps  fly  behind,  for  a  yard  at  the  least; 

Let  her  curls  meet  just  under  her  chin; 
Let  these  curls  be  supported,  to  keep  up  the  jest, 

With  an  hundred^  instead  of  one,  pin. 

Let  her  gown  be  tuck'd  up  to  the  hip  on  each  side; 

Shoes  too  high  for  to  walk,  or  to  jump; 
And,  to  deck  the  sweet  creature  complete  for  a  bride, 

Let  the  cork-cutter  make  her  a  rump. 

Thus  finish'd  in  taste,  while  on  Chloe  you  gaze. 

You  may  take  the  dear  charmer  for  life; 
But  never  undress  her — for,  out  of  her  stays 

You'll  find  you  have  lost  half  your  wife.* 

An  American  in  London  at  the  end  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, whether  Quaker  or  not,  was  bound  to  have  some 
surprises  in  contrasting  the  styles  at  home  and  abroad. 

•  From  Publications  of  Percy  Society,  Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  259.   Printed 
first  in  "  London  Magazine  "  for  1777,  and  very  popular. 


166  ^^^   QUAKER. 

In  1781,  Lady  Cathcart,  an  American  by  birth,  wrote 
of  London  fashions: 

They  wear  for  morning  a  white  poloneze  or  a  dress  they  call 
a  Levete  [Levite]  which  is  a  kind  of  gown  and  Peticote  with  long 
sleeves  made  with  scarcely  any  pique  in  the  back,  and  worn  with 
a  sash  tyed  on  the  left  side.  They  make  these  in  winter  of 
white  dimity,  and  in  summer  of  muslin  with  chintz  borders. 

We  are  told  that  the  "  robe-levite  "  imitated  this 
garment,  and  that  the  "  monkey-tailed  levite  "  had  a 
curiously  twisted  train,  and  was  a  French  fashion.* 
Our  "  Fair  Quaker "  of  this  date  wears  what  is  no 
doubt  a  "  Levite."  Did  its  name  help  to  make  it  seem 
less  worldly? 

George  and  Sarah  (Hill)  Dillwyn,  very  plain 
Friends  from  Philadelphia,  went  over  to  visit  their 
English  relatives  in  London  soon  after  the  peace  was 
signed.  Her  letters  to  her  family  at  home  in  New  Jer- 
sey are  the  observations  of  an  alert,  lively  woman,  to 
whose  philosophical  mind  the  gay  capital  served  as  an 
amusement,  but  not  in  the  least  a  temptation.  Her 
opportunities  for  observation  were  of  the  best.  She 
writes  to  her  sister,  M.  Morris,  dating  her  letter, 
"London,  4  12th.  1785": 

I  find  it  in  vain  to  keep  pace  here  with  the  nice  dames,  so  don't 
care  a  fig  about  it;  let  us  be  dressed  as  we  will,  I  find  the  best 
of  them  take  a  great  deal  more  notice  of  us  than  either  of  us 
desires.t 

They  mention  their  reticules — spelt  preferably  by 
all,  apparently,  "ridicule;"  these  side  pockets  must 
match  the  gown,  with  tassel  and  strings. 

"  When  writing  of  women,"  said  Diderot,  "  we 
should  dip  our  pen  in  the  rainbow,  and  throw  over  each 

*Mrs.  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colonial  Times,"  p.  152. 

t "  Letters  of  the  Hill  Family,"  edited  by  J.  J.  Smith,  p.  256. 


A  STUDY  IN  COSTUME.  167 

line  the  powder  of  the  butterfly's  wing,  instead  of 
sand  !  "  No  suck  ethereal  notion  is  left  of  woman  in 
these  athletic  days  of  the  golfing  girl,  but  it  is  not  so 
long  since  exercise  was  a  disgrace,  and  to  seem  to  live 
on  anything  more  substantial  than  air,  a  crime  against 
good  taste.  Gowns,  of  course,  partook  of  the  general 
aesthetic  tendency,  and  the  period  of  classicism  in  dress 
left  its  imprint  on  the  garb  even  of  the  Quaker  ladies 
of  the  early  part  of  this  century.  Fashions  as  a  rule 
change  gradually,  but  at  the  French  Revolution  they 
made  a  sudden  revolt,  and  down  came  the  "  high 
heads "  and  the  "  poufs  au  sentiment,"  the  latter  a 
pleasing  structure  some  four  feet  high,  representing 
at  the  wearer's  whim,  gardens  and  trees,  and  ships  un- 
der full  sail  in  billowy  seas  of  gauze,  or  models  of  their 
nursery  and  babies  and  all  their  pet  animals.  The  re- 
action went  to  the  other  extreme,  when  Paris  sought 
to  reproduce  Greek  simplicity;  the  "  statuesque " 
effects  that  resulted  might  have  caused  even  a  Greek 
statue  to  blush.  The  desired  effect  was  attained  by  dis- 
carding to  the  limit  of  decency,  and  even  beyond  it, 
all  possible  undergarments.  Xone  too  many,  accord- 
ing to  our  hygienic  ideas  in  this  day,  had  ever  been 
worn.  But  a  scanty  cambric  petticoat  in  the  last  days 
of  the  last  century  was  quite  the  heaviest  undergar- 
ment possible.  The  clinging  draperies  that  resulted 
displayed  a  curious  commingling  of  classical  names; 
and  one  fine  lady  is  quoted  as  wearing  at  the  same  time 
in  1809,  "  a  robe  a  la  Didon,  a  Carthage  Cymar,  and  a 
Spartan  Diadem."  Tito,  Daphne,  Ariadne,  Calypso, 
Diana  and  the  whole  Greek  array  were  levied  upon  to 
distinguish  different  styles;  and  even  Medusa  lent  her 


IQg  THE  QUAKER. 

name  to  a  coiffure !  The  only  thing  to  be  said  in  favor 
of  this  riot  of  classicism  was  that  it  put  an  abrupt  end 
to  cocked  hats,  wigs,  pigtails  and  hair  powder.  Hoops 
became  past  horrors,  as  did  expanded  petticoats;  but 
while  the  less  enthusiastic  English  refused  to  be  quite 
so  unrestrained  in  dress  as  their  neighbors  across  the 
channel,  they  followed  sufficiently  far  to  attain  a  high 
disdain  for  any  underclothing  that  interfered  with 
statuesque  effects,  and  perilous  indeed  must  have  been 
the  results  in  the  unfriendly  English  climate.  Gauze 
and  silks  and  tiffanvs  and  taffetas,  India  muslins  and 
delicate  gossamers  were  considered  heavy  enough  for 
winter  wear  by  our  English  grandmothers,  who,  poor 
things,  killed  themselves  off  before  their  time  and  trans- 
mitted many  an  ill  to  their  descendants  as  a  tribute  to 
Dame  Fashion.  Shoes  came  from  France,  and  were  of 
finest  kid,  for  by  some  unaccountable  mental  bias  it 
was  no  more  possible  then  than  it  is  now  for  the  Eng- 
lish to  make  a  graceful  shoe.  Rouge  was  described  as 
an  "  animating  appendage  "  to  the  toilette,  and  cold 
water  was  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  good  looks — "  the 
natural  enemy  to  a  smooth  skin  !  "  Prince  Jerome 
Bonaparte  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Patterson  on  Christ- 
mas eve,  1803.    A  gentleman  who  was  present  wrote: 

All  the  clothes  worn  by  the  bride  might  have  been  put  in  my 
pocket.  Her  dress  was  of  muslin  richly  embroidered,  of  extreme- 
ly fine  texture.  Beneath  her  dress  she  wore  but  a  single  gar- 
ment.* 

The  classical  craze  wore  itself  out,  as  crazes  will. 
The  only  reason  that  it  has  here  been  referred  to  is  be- 
cause the  scanty  supply  of  underclothing  which  it  per- 

*  Mrs.  Hunt,  "  Our  Grandmothers'  Gowns,"  p.  15. 


A   STUDY  IN   COHTUME.  109 

mitted  caused  our  Quaker  grandmothers  many  an  ill, 
in  the  tradition  left  them  that  true  refinement  de- 
manded an  attire  too  airy  to  be  compatible  with  the 
sharp  changes  of  an  English  or  American  winter.  No- 
body wore  woollen  garments  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century,  and  for  a  long  time  cloth  was  regarded  as  very 
unfeminine  even  for  an  outside  wrap.  Linen  was  uni- 
versal, and  silk  stockings  with  the  thinnest  lasting,  or 
"  prunella  "  shoes  and  slippers,  with  soles  of  paper-like 
thickness,  were  the  usual  foot-covering  in  houses  full 
of  draughts  caused  by  open  fires.  Carpet  or  "  list " 
shoes  were  donned  by  old  ladies  for  snow  and  ice,  and 
clogs  and  pattens  were  worn  by  the  belles  of  the  day. 
To  be  sure,  heavy  fur  pelisses  were  worn  in  bitter 
weather,  but  were  at  once  thrown  aside  on  entering  the 
house. 

We  find  that  calicoes  with  gay  and  fanciful  designs 
became  very  fashionable  after  the  Revolution  in  Amer- 
ica; and  it  is  no  doubt  to  this  mode  that  the  Diary  of 
Ann  Whitall  refers.  An  old  newspaper  says,  "  Since 
the  peace,  calico  has  become  the  general  fashion  of  our 
country  women,  and  is  worn  by  females  of  all  condi- 
tions at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  both  in  town  and  coun- 
try." The  French  calicoes  were  delicate  in  texture  and 
color,  and  were  said  to  have  been  so  popular  that  they 
were  even  worn  in  the  freezing  cold  churches  and  meet- 
ing houses  in  the  dead  of  a  New  England  winter.  There 
was  nothing  modest  about  some  of  the  designs,  if  we 
may  believe  the  old  advertisements,  which  describe  pat- 
terns called  "  liberty  peak,"  "Covent  Garden  crossbar," 
"  Eanelagh  half -moon,"  and  a  "  fine  check  inclosing 
Eour  Lions  Eampant  and  three  flours  de  Luce."  Some 


170  y^^   QUAKER. 

were  adorned  witli  the  portraits  of  political  heroes,  like 
Washington  and  Franklin.  We  are  further  told  that 
these  designs  were  stamped  by  blocks  for  the  hand, 
which  are  still  in  existence,*  The  'New  England 
mantua-maker  of  1668  charged  eight  shillings  per  day 
— a  fair  comparison  with  a  modern  seamstress — and 
the  dressmaker  who  made  up  the  calicoes  a  hundred 
years  later  got  no  more.  A  young  married  woman, 
who  was  a  Friend,  wrote  to  her  sister  from  Washing- 
ton, Dutchess  County,  New  York,  Seventh  month  13th, 
1828: 

Yesterday  was  Preparative  Meeting.  The  clerk  was  a  young 
girl,  I  think  not  twenty  years  of  age,  dressed  in  a  painted  mus- 
lin, with  a  very  large  figure,  almost  white,  a  cape  with  a  small 
transparent  handkerchief  round  the  neck,  and  a  bonnet  of  white 
Bilk  in  the  real  English  fashion,  gathered  very  full,  and  altogether 
the  most  showy  looking  clerk  I  ever  saw.  .  .  . 

I  went  over  to  the  store  yesterday  and  bought  a  real  calico 
gown,  a  dress  one, — light,  to  put  on  afternoons,  when  it  is  too 
cold  for  gingham,  as  it  mostly  is  in  this  elevated  region.  I  find 
it  necessary  to  be  pretty  much  dressed  all  the  time  if  one  is  to 
keep  up  with  the  custom  of  the  house.  Even  Mother  made  up 
a  white  apron,  as  she  says  she  did  not  bring  one,  thinking  they 
w'd  not  be  worn  here,  but  she  finds  her  mistake. 

The  large  figures  became  more  modest  later  on.  On 
the  back  of  an  old  letter,  dated  1833,  in  my  grand- 
mother's handwriting,  I  find  the  following  memoran- 
dum :  "  Very  small  figures  are  the  fashion  here  now  for 
waistcoats  and  for  gowns  too." 

Just  before  this  she  had  written: 

I  can't  bear  to  wear  anything  but  crepe  handkerchiefs  this  hot 
Aveather.  .  .  .  Short  sleeves  only  are  wearable  either.  I  have  not 
yet  ventur'd  to  cut  off  more  than  one  pair,  but  think  I  shall. 

*  Alice  Morse  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colonial  Times,"  p.  74. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  171 

These  calicoes  and  figured  stuffs  were  so  famous  for 
their  large  design  that  what  to-day  would  seem  to  us 
a  very  conspicuous  figure,  was  considered  proper  for 
Rebecca  Jones  to  wear  in  Philadelphia  on  the  occasion 
of  her  first  appearance  in  the  ministry.  The  original 
material  is  really  a  printed  brown  linen;  the  name  of 
calico  seems  to  have  been  of  general  application  to 
stuffs  of  this  sort.  The  early  Friends  had  borne  their 
testimony  against  these  flights  of  fancy,*  but  "  flour'd 
and  figur'd  things  "  have  seemed  to  recur  in  feminine 
costume  in  some  form  ever  since  the  days  of  Mother 
Eve. 

It  is  hard  to  imagine  the  Quaker  woman  without  her 
shawl;  yet  that  article  of  dress  was  not  worn  in  this 
country  until  1784,  when  "  a  rich  assortment  of 
shawls  "  was  advertised  in  Salem,  Mass.  The  garment 
was  the  result  of  the  East  India  trade,  just  beginning  at 
this  time,  and  was  not  worn  in  Europe  much  before  the 
opening  of  the  present  century.  An  observant  attender 
of  Quaker  meetings  must  have  noted  the  manner  in 
which  the  plain  Quakeress  sometimes  takes  her  seat,  as, 
with  a  hand  behind  her,  palm  outward,  she  gives  an  in- 
describable little  "  fip  "  to  the  corner  of  her  shawl,  to 
turn  it  up  behind  at  the  moment  of  seating  herself  to 
avoid  wrinkles  in  the  tail !  The  air  with  which  that 
"  flip  "  is  sometimes  given  by  a  quick-motioned  young 
woman,  is  levity  itself.  And  none  but  the  initiated 
can  know  of  the  art  involved  in  donning  the  plain  shawl 

*"lst  of  5  mo.,  1693,  Minute  7th.  Before  a  minute  offered  to  the 
Quarterly  Meeting,  concerning  Fr'ds  making,  ordering,  or  selling  striped 
cloths  silks,  or  stuffs,  or  any  sort  of  tlour'd,  figur'd  things  of  different 
colours.  It  IS  the  judgment  of  the  Quarterly  Meet'g  that  Friends  ought  to 
stand  clear  of  such  things."  Unlocated.  Copy  by  H.  Hull,  New  York, 
1850. 


172  ^^^   QUAKER. 

properly;  the  depth  of  the  three  folds  exactly  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  back  of  the  neck,  and  the  size  of  the  pin  that 
holds  them ;  the  pin  on  the  tip  of  each  shoulder,  to  hold 
the  fullness  in  sufficient  firmness,  without  pulling,  and 
without  showing  that  it  is  a  pin;  and  the  momentous 
decision  whether  the  point  of  the  shawl  is  exactly  in 
the  middle,  or  not — indeed,  there  are  impressive  mo- 
ments in  the  lives  of  all  women. 

Some  form  of  cloak,  usually  hooded,  was  universal 
before  the  simplicity  of  the  shawl  commended  itself  at 
first  sight  to  the  Quakeress  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  return  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  from  his  campaign 
in  Egypt,  bringing  to  Josephine  some  beautiful  cash- 
mere shawls,  gave  that  garment  a  great  vogue  in  1807. 
The  Empress  took  an  immense  fancy  to  the  shawl,  and 
there  was  a  time  at  which  she  was  scarcely  ever  seen 
without  one  in  the  morning.  It  is  said  that  "  she  had 
about  five  hundred,  for  many  of  which  she  had  given  as 
much  as  ten  or  twelve  thousand  francs.  The  Emperor 
did  not  like  to  see  her  wrapped  in  her  shawls  within 
doors,  and  sometimes  pulled  them  off  and  threw  them  in 
the  fire,  but  she  always  sent  for  another." 

The  "  Belle  Assemblee  "  discourages  the  shawl.     It 

says: 

It  is  only  wonderful,  that  such  an  article  of  dress  sHould  ever 
have  found  its  path  to  fashionable  adoption  in  the  various  cir- 
cles of  British  taste.  In  its  form,  nothing  can  be  more  opposed 
to  every  principle  of  refined  taste,  or  carry  less  the  appearance 
of  that  elegant  simplicity  at  which  it  aims.  It  is  calculated 
much  more  to  conceal  and  vulgarize  than  to  display  or  regulate 
the  contour  of  an  elegant  form,  and  is  totally  destitute  of  every 
idea  of  ease,  elegance,  or  dignity.  Whatever  charms  it  may  have 
for  the  sickly  taste  of  the  tawny  BELLES  of  the  torrid  zone, 
nothing  but  that  witching  beauty  which  occasionally  veils  itself 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  I73 

in  the  rusticity  and  homeliness  (like  the  sun,  its  mists  and 
clouds)  that  it  may  dazzle  anew,  with  the  refulgent  splendor  of 
its  taste  and  charm,  could  render  even  tolerable  the  introduction 
of  an  habiliment  which  turns  any  female  NOT  beautiful  and  ele- 
gant into  an  absolute  DOWDY.  IT  is  the  very  contrast  to  the 
flowing  elegance  of  the  Grecian  costume,  whose  light  and  trans- 
parent draperies  so  admirably  display  the  female  form.* 

A  Quaker  poet  thus  expressed  himself  later: 

Observe  yon  belles!  behold  the  waspish  waist! 

See  the  broad  bishop  spreading  far  behind; 
The  shawl  immense,  with  uncouth  figures  graced, 

And  veil  loose  waving  in  the  playful  wind;  , 

Mark  the  huge  bonnets,  stuck  on  hills  of  hair. 
Like  meteors  streaming  in  the  turbid   air.f 

The  impressions  of  the  life  and  manners  of  the  seven 
sisters  Gurney,  of  Norwich,  England,  by  A.  J.  C. 
Hare,:}:  show  the  Quaker  influence  at  work  on  a  set  of 
young  people  to  whom  no  privileges  of  culture  or  re- 
finement had  ever  been  denied.  The  family  to  which 
belonged  Joseph  John  and  his  talented  sister,  Elizabeth 
Gurney,  better  known  by  her  married  name  of  Eliza- 
beth Fry,  may  well  merit  a  little  attentive  study.  Har- 
riet Martineau  describes  the  sisters  as  "'a  set  of  dash- 
ing young  people,  dressing  in  gay  riding  habits  and 
scarlet  boots,  and  riding  about  the  country  to  balls  and 
gaieties  of  all  sorts.  Accomplished  and  charming 
young  ladies  they  were,  and  we  children  used  to  hear 
whispered  gossip  about  the  effect  of  their  charms  on 
heart-stricken  young  men."     The   seven   are   said   to 

*1807,  quoted  by  Mrs.  A.  W.  Hunt,  in  "  Our  Grandmothers'  Gowns," 
p.  28. 

t  Samuel  J.  Smith,  of  Hickory  Grove,  N.  J. 

J  Augustus  J.  C.  Hare,  "  The  Gurneys  of  Earlham." 


174  THE   QUAKER. 

have  linked  arms,  and  in  their  scarlet  *  riding-habits, 
in  which  they  scoured  the  country  side  on  their  ponies, 
stopped  the  great  mail-coach  from  ascending  the  neigh- 
boring hill !  The  brother  Daniel  states  in  his  "  Remin- 
iscences," that  his  four  younger  sisters  never  wore  bon- 
nets on  the  Earlham  grounds,  but  put  on  little  red 
cloaks  in  which  they  ran  about  as  they  liked.  Louisa 
Gurney  (afterward  Mrs.  Samuel  Hoare)  writes,  June 
5th,  1797,  "  In  the  evening  I  dressed  up  in  Quaker 
things,  but  I  felt  far  too  ashamed  to  say  or  act  any- 
thing," so  strong  was  the  influence  of  the  Quaker  spirit. 
The  same  seven  sat  in  a  row  in  front  of  the  ministers' 
gallery  at  ISTorwich  Meeting.  One  day  Betsey  (Eliza- 
beth Fry)  had  on  a  pair  of  "  new  purple  boots  lined 
with  scarlet,"  which  sounds  amazingly  gorgeous  to  us 
at  this  day.  Betsey  was  counting  upon  the  delights  of 
the  shoes  to  console  her  through  the  tedium  she  antici- 
pated. But  as  it  proved,  this  was  to  be  a  memorable 
day  to  her.  It  was  the  fourth  of  February,  1798,  and 
Betsey  was  eighteen.  William  Savery,  the  great 
American  preacher,  was  present,  and  his  sermon  was  so 
forceful  and  appealed  so  to  her,  that  she  became  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  Quaker  principles  and  became  a 
Quaker  from  that  time  forth. 

That  same  meeting  seems  to  have  shocked  Friend 
Savery,  for  he  wrote  that  he  found  it  very  gay  for  a 
Friends'  meeting.  "  There  were,"  he  says,  "  about  two 
hundred  under  our  name,  very  few  middle  aged.  I 
thought  it  the  gayest  meeting  of  Friends  I  ever  sat  in, 
and  was  quite  grieved  at  it.  .  .  .  Marks  of  wealth  and 
grandeur  are  too  evident  in  several  families  in  this 

*  "  Kutusoff "  mantles  of  scarlet  cloth  were  much  worn  later. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  175 

place."  Maria  Edgeworth  describes  Elizabeth  Ery 
after  years  had  passed,  in  her  "  drab-colored  silk  cloak 
and  plain  borderless  silk  cap."  "When  Joseph  Ery  first 
determined  to  marry  Elizabeth  Gurney,  if  it  were  possi- 
ble, he  saw  her  in  a  brown  silk  gown,  with  a  black  lace 
veil  bound  around  her  head  like  a  turban,  the  ends 
pendant  on  one  side  of  her  face,  and  contrasting  with 
her  beautiful  light  brown  hair.  Eichenda,  her  sister, 
writes  of  the  "  troutbecks  "  they  were  all  wearing  at 
the  seaside  in  1803.  These  were  hats  of  that  year. 
Red  cloaks  are  mentioned,  and  the  fashions  of  the  time 
show  the  brilliant  colors  of  wraps  and  all  outside  gar- 
ments of  the  day  to  have  been  very  startling.  All  ex- 
cept the  plainest  Quakers  made  some  concession  to  the 
mode.  Priscilla  Gurney  writes  to  Hannah,  her  sister, 
afterward  the  wife  of  Sir  T.  Eowell  Buxton,  "  Chenda 
and  I  wear  our  dark  gowns  every  day,  and  our  aprons 
in  the  evening."  This  was  in  Eebruary,  1803.  In 
1805,  Louisa  Gurney  writes  to  her  sister,  Elizabeth 
Ery,  "  I  often  seem  to  see  thee  in  thy  pink  acorn  gown 
attending  to  all  thy  flock  in  the  dining  room,"  etc. 
This  "  pink  acorn  gown  "  was  probably  a  pattern  sim- 
ilar to  the  calicoes  and  printed  stuffs  so  popular  among 
the  Friends  at  the  time,  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made.  We  are  told  that  in  May,  1807,  at  the 
marriage  of  the  Buxtons,  "  The  house  was  overrun  with 
bridesmaids  in  muslin  cloaks  and  chip  hats."  In  1813, 
Katherine  Fry  says,  "  Our  Aimts  Catherine  and  Rachel 
(Gurney)  wore  no  caps,  but  a  headdress  of  crepe  folded 
turbanwise.  Both  were  brown  in  the  morning;  in  the 
afternoons,  Aunt  Catherine's  were  dark  red;  Aunt 
Rachel's,  white.     Aunt  Rachel  also  frequently  wore 


176  ^^^    QUAKER. 

white  muslin  dresses.  They  had  few  or  no  ornaments. 
Aunt  Catherine  always  wore  dark  or  black  silk,  but 
often  with  a  red  shawl.  Aunt  Priscilla,  as  a  Friend, 
was  dressed  in  a  dark  silk  or  poplin  gown,  exquisitely 
neat,  finished  and  refined."  The  Aunt  Catherine  who 
was  the  head  of  the  family,  while  never  a  Quaker,  al- 
ways regarded  the  preferences  of  those  who  were  of  that 
faith  in  her  circle,  and  studied  an  elegant  simplicity  of 
dress  that  was  the  admiration  of  her  friends,  seeking  to 
avoid  any  marked  or  startling  contrasts  among  the  very 
varied  views  of  the  sisters. 

Their  intimate  friend  was  the  author,  Amelia  Opie; 
that  talented  convert  to  the  faith  went  into  it  with  her 
customary  ardor,  and  the  change  from  worldly  garb 
was  made  at  one  leap,  when  once  she  became  convinced 
of  the  necessity  for  the  sacrifice  of  her  love  of  color, 
which,  as  the  wife  of  the  artist,  John  Opie,  had  been 
more  than  ordinarily  cultivated.*  But  she  seems  to 
have  seen  in  the  simple  elegance  of  her  Quaker  friends, 
sufficient  outlet  for  all  artistic  aspirations  in  the  realm 
of  costume;  and  certainly  no  more  stately  women 
could  have  been  found  in  the  King's  domain  to  set  off 
the  possibilities  of  silk  and  satin,  when  worn  with  grace 
and  distinction.  As  though  partly  in  explanation  of 
what  seemed  to  their  friends  an  extraordinary  step, 
Southey  wrote  of  Mrs.  Opie: 

I  like  her  in  spite  of  her  Quakerism — nay,  perhaps  the  better 
for  it.  It  must  always  be  remembered  amongst  what  persons 
she  had  lived,  and  that  religion  was  never  presented  to  her  in 
a  serious  form  until  she  saw  it  in  drab. 


*  Joseph  John  Gurney,  in  writing  of  her  at  this  time,  says,  "  Great 
•was  her  agony  of  mind  in  view  of  changing  her  dress,  and  of  addressing 
her  numerous  friends  and  acquaintances  by  their  plain  names,  and  with 
the  humbling  simplicity  of  thee  and  thou." 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  177 

So  remarkable  a  figure  was  that  of  Elizabeth  Fry 
in  the  elegant  simplicity  of  Quaker  dress,  whether  in 
the  prison  of  Newgate,  or  before  the  crowned  heads  of 
Europe,  that  her  dress  has  become  fixed  in  the  public 
mind  as  the  tj^je  of  woman's  Quaker  costume.  Eliza- 
beth Fry  writes  to  her  husband  from  The  Hague,  after 
an  audience  with  the  King  and  Queen,  in  1847,  "  I 
wore  a  dark  plain  satin,  and  a  new  fawn  colored  silk 
shawl."  At  this  time,  however,  it  was  no  new  thing 
for  Elizabeth  Ery  to  wait  upon  royalty.  Her  first  visit 
to  court  was  made  in  1818,  when  Queen  Charlotte  com- 
manded her  presence  at  the  Mansion  House,  upon 
which  occasion  A.  J.  C.  Hare  says,  "  Royalty  offered 
its  meed  of  approval  at  the  shrine  of  mercy  and  good 
works."  The  Queen's  stature  was  diminutive;  she  was 
covered  with  diamonds,  her  countenance  lighted  up 
with  an  expression  of  the  kindest  benevolence.  Eliza- 
beth Fry's  simple  Quaker  dress  added  to  the  height  of 
her  tall  figure.  She  was  slightly  flushed,  but  kept  her 
wonted  calm.     Her  daughter  wrote  afterward: 

They  entered,  Lady  Harcourt  in  full  court  dress,  on  the  arm 
of  Alderman  Wood  in  scarlet  gown;  and  then  the  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  (Ryder)  in  lawn  sleeves,  leading  our  darling  mother 
in  her  plain  Friend's  cap,  one  of  the  light  scarf  cloaks  worn  by 
plain  Friends,  and  a  dark  silk  gown.  I  see  her  now,  her  light 
flaxen  hair,  a  little  flush  in  her  face  from  the  bustle  and  noise 
she  had  passed  through,  and  her  sweet,  lovely,  placid  smile.* 

Ann  Warder,  whose  interesting  Journal  covers  three 
years,  from  1786  to  1789,  among  the  Friends  of  Phila- 
delphia and  vicinity,  gives  us  vivid  pictures  of  life  in 
the  young  republic,  and  the  privilege  of  quoting  from 

*  A.  J.  C.  Hare,  "  The  Gurneys  of  Earlham." 


i;8  THE   QUAKER. 

its  unpublished  pages  has  been  gladly  availed  of.  She 
tells  us  that  upon  landing  from  the  ship  Edward,  in 
iN'ew  York,  in  1786,  they  were  taken  at  once  to  the 
home  of  a  Friend  of  the  family.  "  The  woman  Friend 
of  the  house  came  up,  and  as  a  mark  of  her  welcome, 
untied  my  cap  to  help  strip  me."  At  this  period,  Ann 
Warder  was  twenty-eight.  On  being  told  that  her  ap- 
pearance was  singular,  she  explained  that  "  countries 
differed;  riding  dresses  with  us  were  very  much  worn, 
and  mine  in  England  would  be  esteemed  a  plain  one. 
This  is  a  specimen  of  their  singularity  on  this  Island 
[Long  Island] ;  scarce  any  had  Buckles,  and  not  a 
looped  hat  did  I  see."  When  word  reached  Philadel- 
phia by  messenger  of  the  arrival  of  John  Warder  and 
his  English  wife,  ten  minutes  sufficed  to  see  their 
Brother  Jeremiah  and  his  wife  on  their  way  to  I^ew 
York  to  meet  them.  Haste  probably  accounts  for  the 
appearance  of  the  new  arrival  from  the  South,  who  is 
thus  described  by  the  English  w^oman,  and  contrasted 
with  her  husband,  his  brother.  She  allows  us  to  see 
the  unconventional  dress  of  the  Quaker  of  that  day: 

His  dress  unstudied,  a  Cocked  Hat,  Clumsy  Boots,  Brown  cloth 
large  Breeches,  Black  Velvet  Waistcoat,  light  old  Cazemar  [cassi- 
mere]  coat,  handkerchie  instead  of  stock  which  is  tied  on  with- 
out much  pains.  Conceive  J.  W.  [her  husband]  with  "his  suit — 
Nankeen  Inexpressibles  and  white  silk  stockings,  much  more  re- 
sembling an  English  gentleman. 

She  adds: 
The  women  I  have  seen  at  present  appear  Indolent,  which  may 
perhaps  be  a  reason  for  Mother  Warder's  bearing  such  a  high 
character  for  notability. 

To  be  a  "  notable  "  housewife  was  to  reach  woman's 
summit  of  social  ambition  at  that  day  among  the  Quak- 
ers. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  179 

Got  B.  Parker  to  go  out  shoping  with  me.  On  our  way  hap- 
pened of  Uncle  Head,  to  whom  I  complained  bitterly  of  the  dirty 
streets,  declaring  if  I  could  purchase  a  pair  of  pattens,  the  sin- 
gularity I  wovild  not  mind.  Uncle  soon  found  me  up  an  apartment, 
out  of  which  I  took  a  pair  and  trotted  along  quite  Comfortable, 
crossing  some  Streets  with  the  greatest  ease,  which  the  idea  of 
had  troubled  me.  My  little  companion  was  so  pleased,  that  she 
wished  some  also,  and  kept  them  on  her  feet  to  learn  to  walk 
ill  them  most  of  the  remainder  of  the  day. 

The  patten  and  clog  are  often  spoken  of  interchange- 
ably, but  the  clog  is  of  vastly  greater  antiquity.  The 
patten  dates  from  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  is 
raised  on  a  supporting  ring;  an  excellent  example  may 
be  seen  in  the  museum  of  Independence  Hall.  Gay's 
charming  explanation  of  their  origin  in  his  "  Trivia  " 
will,  of  course,  come  in  mind.  The  clog  in  the  illustra- 
tion is  from  a  beautiful  pair  carefully  preserved  in  Isew 
Jersey.  The  hollow  for  the  heel,  and  the  preposterous 
elevation  on  the  instep,  designed  to  fill  the  arch  of  the 
foot  in  the  companion  shoe  or  slipper,  are  explained, 
and  the  illustration  from  our  originals  almost  dupli- 
cated, in  Fairholt's  "  Costume  in  England,"  which  may 
be  properly  regarded  as  the  final  authority  on  matters 
of  historical  costume. 

An  insane  woman  remarked  on  Ann  Warder's  ap- 
pearance when  she  visited  the  asylum  in  Philadelphia, 
that  she  (A.  W.)  was  the  "  most  clumsy  woman  in  the 
party,  but  she  believed  it  was  because  she  had  on  too 
many  petticoats." 

I  could  not  help  being  struck  with  two  women  Minister's  ap- 
pearance, both  having  Drab  Silk  Gowns,  and  Black  Pasteboard 
Bonnets  on.  To  see  an  old  man  stand  up  with  a  Mulberry  Coat, 
Nankeen  Waistcoat  and  Breeches  with  white  stockings  would 
look  very  Singular  in  England.  My  cap  is  the  admiration  of 
plain  and  gay. 


180  r^^    QUAKER. 

A  shopping  expedition  is  recorded  to  find  white 
leather  mitts.  "  In  not  less  than  twenty  [shops]  did  we 
ask  for  them  before  we  succeeded;  there  is  no  place 
regular  for  different  trades,  as  with  us." 

The  apron,  as  we  have  seen,  had  its  day  of  popular- 
ity, and  it  is  perhaps  interesting  to  notice  that  the 
sleeve,  which  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  was 
often  a  separate  article  of  dress,  after  the  old  custom 
from  the  time  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  was  apt  to  be 
of  another  color  than  the  gown,  and  green  was  still  the 
fashionable  shade  at  this  period.  A  famous  old  song 
of  the  time,  in  everybody's  mouth,  was  "  My  Lady 
Greensleeves."  It  is  mentioned  by  Shakespeare  in 
the  "  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  where  Falstaff  says: 
"  Let  the  sky  rain  potatoes;  let  it  thunder  to  the  tune 
of  '  Green-Sleeves.'  "  (Act  V.,  Scene  5.)  Part  of  the 
old  song  is  as  follows:  * 

Alas,  my  love,  you  do  me  wrong 

To  cast  me  off  discourteously; 
And  I  have  loved  you  so  long, 

Delighting  in  your  company. 

Greensleeves  was  all  my  joy, 
Greensleeves  was  my  delight; 
Greensleeves  was  my  heart  of  Gold, 
And  Who  but  Lady  Greensleeves? 

I  have  been  ready  at  your  hand 

To  grant  whatever  you  would  crave; 
I  have  both  waged  life  and  land 
Your   goodwDl  for  to  have. 

Thou  couldst  desire  no  earthly  thing 

But  still  thou  hadst  it  readily. 
Thy  music  still  to  play  and  sing; 

And  yet  thou  wouldst  not  love  me. 

♦From  "  A  Handful  of  Pleasant  Delites,"  by  Clement  Robinson,  1584. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  181 

My  men  were  clothM  all  in  green. 

And  they  did  ever  wait  on  thee, 
All  this  was  gallant  to  be  seen. 

And  yet  thou  wouldst  not  love  me. 

They  set  thee  up,  they  took  thee  down. 

They  served  thee  with  humility, 
Thy  foot  might  not  once  touch  the  ground. 

And  yet  thou  wouldst  not  love  me. 

Thy  gown  was  of  the  grassy  green, 

Thy  sleeves  of  satin  hanging  by, 
Which  made  thee  be  our  harvest  queen. 

And  yet  thou  wouldst  not  love  me. 

Greensleeves,  now  farewell,  adieu! 

God  I  pray  to  prosper  thee! 
For  I  am  still  thy  lover  true; 

Come  once  again  and  love  me. 

Walter  Rutherford  is  quoted  by  Miss  Wharton  as 
objecting  violently  to  "  a  late  abominable  fashion  from 
London,  of  ladies  like  Washerwomen  with  their  sleeves 
above  their  elbows."  This  was  in  1790.  Elbow  sleeves 
were  worn  by  all  the  plain  Friends  at  one  time;  and 
long  "  mitts,"  reaching  to  the  shoulder,  elaborate  and 
exquisitely  plaited  linen  and  fine  muslin  under-sleeves, 
with  the  little  gold  link  buttons  to  fasten  them  at  the 
ends,  are  now  in  my  possession.  Through  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth,  and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  all  plain  women  Friends  wore  gowns  with  low 
neck  and  short  sleeves.  This,  I  think,  may  be  taken 
as  an  universal  rule.  The  neck  was  protected  by  a 
dainty  muslin  or  lawn  handkerchief,  folded  across  the 
bosom  and  pinned  at  the  waist  on  each  side.  Over  this 
was  worn  a  soft  silk  shawl,  and  the  shades  of  delicate 
gray  or  drab  were  often  productive  of  the  most  exquis- 
ite effects,  with  a  fresh  young  face.     The  young  girl 


182 


TEE   QUAKER. 


Hannah  Hunt, 

Westtowu's  First  Scholar. 
1799. 
(Aetat  11.) 


put  on  her  cap  before  she  was  fairly  grown  up;  and 
the  first  little  girl  sent  to  Westtown  School  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1799,  wore  a  cap  of 
large  proportions.  No  baby  came 
into  the  world,  whether  of  Quak- 
erdom  or  of  fashion,  in  the  last 
century,  without  at  once  having  its 
hairless  little  pate  clapped  into  a 
more  or  less  uncompromising  cap, 
many  of  those  still  in  existence 
being  very  elaborately  embroid- 
ered. But  we  might  forgive  them 
for  refusing  to  the  little  head  the 
proper  circulation  of  air,  if  they 
had  not  sinned  in  a  far  worse  way 
when  they  at  once  enclosed  the  poor  little  ribs  in  the 
most  cruel  of  stays.  For  a  long  time,  I  tried  to  per- 
suade myself  that  it  was  only  the  ultra-fashionable  (or 
the  Chinese)  that  so  treated  their  offspring.  But,  alas ! 
the  pair  of  stiff,  diminutive  stays  in  my  own  possession 
has  never  been  in  the  hands  of  the  "  world's  people  "; 
they  come  straight  to  me  from  a  long  line  of  Quaker 
ancestry,  and  I  am  reluctantly  forced  to  believe  that  it 
was  my  own  great-grandmother  who  refused  freedom 
to  the  small  ribs  of  her  children,  and  laced  the  uncom- 
promising implement  of  torture  on  her  new-born  in- 
fant. There  are  even  now  certain  conservative  women 
across  the  border  in  Canada,  who  still  put  their  babies 
in  tight  jackets  of  this  kind  immediately  after  their 
birth,  under  the  impression,  which  I  suppose  animated 
our  great-grandmothers,  that  the  small  body  needed 
"  support,"  forsooth,  much  more  than  freedom ! 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  183 

When  the  children  got  to  be  of  a  suitable  age  for 
such  instruction,  literature  like  the  following  was  read 
to  them,  with  what  effect,  either  on  manners  or  morals, 
we  are  not  told: 

Counsel  to  Friends'  Children, 

Written  at  Coggeshall,  Essex, 

1745,  by  Anthony  Purver.* 

Dear  little  Friends,  not  tainted  yet  with  ill. 
By  Sense  not  biassed,  nor  misled  by  Will; 

Dress  not  to  please,  nor  imitate  the  Nice; 
Be  like  good  Friends,  and  follow  their  Advice. 
The  rich  man,  gaily  cloth'd,  is  now  in  Hell, 
And  Dogges  did  eat  attirgd  Jezebel. 

Speak  truly  still,  with  Thou  and  Thee  to  One 
As  unto  God;  and  feed  the  Pride  in  None; 
Give  them  no  llatt'ring  Titles,  tho'  they  scoff. 
Lest  God,  provok'd,  should  quickly  cut  you  off. 
Him  only  did  not  the  three  Children  fear. 
And  with  their  Hats  before  the  King  appear? 

It  may  be  set  down  as  a  safe  rule,  in  seeking  for  a 
Quaker  style  or  custom  at  any  given  time,  to  take  the 
worldly  fashion  or  habit  of  the  period  preceding. 
When  the  mode  changes,  and  a  style  is  dropped,  the 
Quaker  will  be  found  just  ready  to  adopt  it,  having  by 
that  time  become  habituated  to  its  use.  Of  all  this 
process  he  is  quite  unconscious;  the  philosophy  of  such 
matters  having  never  been  presented  to  him.  He 
might,  indeed,  shrink  from  the  suggestion  that  there  is 
any  philosophy  of  clothes,  at  all;  but  Carlyle  has  so 

*  Anthony  Purver  was  born  at  Uphurstborn,  near  Whitechurch,  in 
1702,  and  died  at  Andover,  Hampshire,  1777,  aged  75.  He  was  buried  in 
the  Friends'  grounds  at  the  latter  place. 


184  THE   QUAKER. 

taught  us.  A  very  modern  instance  of  this  familiariz- 
ing process  and  ultimate  acceptance  of  what,  on  its  first 
appearance,  is  set  doAvn  as  a  vain  fashion,  is  the  recent 
adoption  in  one  of  the  largest  boarding-schools  in  the 
society,  and  the  only  plain  one,  of  the  ordinary  straw 
sailor-hat  among  the  girls,  just  as  its  popularity  is  on 
the  wane. 

It  will  be  noted  that  during  the  period  following  the 
time  of  William  Penn  up  to  that  of  the  summit  of  Eliza- 
beth Fry's  fame — an  interval  of  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years — there  was  no  established  type  of 
Quaker  dress.  ISTo  woman  of  the  society  had  ever 
come  before  the  public  eye  in  such  a  way  as  to  impress 
it  vn\h.  her  personality,  or  stamp  her  character  upon 
the  public  mind.  Elsewhere,  I  have  indicated  that  the 
witchcraft  persecutions  had  caused  the  preaching 
woman  who  was  the  contemporary  of  William  Penn, 
who  came  from  the  same  class  of  society  as  the  witch 
who  was  hung  or  burned  with  such  wanton  cruelty  on 
both  sides  the  Atlantic,  and  who  wore  a  garb  exactly 
similar,  to  be  seized  upon  as  the  type  of  our  nursery 
"witch."  The  most  conspicuous  instance  was  taken; 
otherwise,  we  should  have  had  the  Quaker  woman  in 
her  cap  and  pointed  hat,  her  apron  and  her  high-heeled 
shoes,  standing  beside  William  Penn  upon  our  boxes 
of  Quaker  oats.  But  during  the  interval  that  followed 
the  preaching  of  the  first  Quaker  women,  in  the  fields 
and  on  upturned  tubs  in  the  halls  and  kitchens  of  the 
early  Quakers,  no  striking  Quaker  woman  arose,  until, 
at  Newgate,  appeared  Elizabeth  Fry's  beautiful  figure 
in  its  exquisite  setting.  The  great  movement  in  Eng- 
land  toward  prison   reform   organized   by   her  noble 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME. 


185 


effort,  has  made  her  the  type  of  the  Quaker  woman  for 
all  time. 

A  Meditation  on  the  Pride  of  Women's  Apparel. 

(From  "  A  New  Spring  of  Divine  Poetry,"   James  Day,   1637.     Percy 
Society.    Vol.  XXVII,  p.  143.) 

See  how  some  borrow'd  off-cast  vaine  attire, 

Can  puff  up  pamper'd  clay  and  dirty  mire: 

Tell  me,  whence  hadst  thy  cloaths  that  make  thee  fine, 

Was't  not  the  silly  sheep's  before  'twas  thine? 

Doth  not  the  silk-worm  and  the  oxe's  hide^ 

Serve  to  maintain  thee  in  thy  cheefest  pride? 

Do'st  not  thou  often  with  those  feathers  vaile 

Thy  face,  with  which  the  ostridge  hides  her  taile? 

What  art  thou  proud  of,  then?  me  thinks  'tis  fit 

Thou  shouldst  be  humble  for  the  wearing  it: 

Tell  me,  proud  madam;  thou  that  art  so  nise. 

How  were  thy  parents  clad  in  Paradise? 

At  first  they  wore  the  armour  of  defence, 

And  were  compleatly  wrapt  in  innocence: 

Had  they  not  sin'd,  they  ne're  had  been  dismaid, 

Nor  needed  not  the  fig-tree's  leavy  ayde! 

Whatever  state,  O  Lord,  thou  place  me  in, 

Let  me  not  glory  in  th'  effect  of  sin. 


"  Madam,  I  do  as  is  my  duty  — 
Honour  the  shadow  of  your  shoe-tie." 

— Hudibras. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  QUAKER  BONNET. 

Then  let  Fashion  exult  in  her  rapid  vagaries  ; 

From  her  fascinations  my  favorite  is  free; 
Be  Folly's  the  headgear  that  momently  varies, 

But  a  Bonnet  of  Drab  is  the  bonnet  for  me. 

Bernard  Barton. 

Borrow'd  guise  fits  not  the  wise — 

A  simple  look  is  best ; 
Native  grace  becomes  a  face 

Though  ne'er  so  rudely  drest. 

ThoTTUu  Campion,  161%, 


CHAPTEK  V. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  QUAKER  BONNET. 

•  O  one  brought  up  within  the  fold  it 
is  no  light  matter  to  approach  so 
awful  a  subject  as  the  Quaker  bon- 
net. There  was  a  certain  sol- 
emnity about  it  that  was  born  of 
terror.  Whether  it  presided  at 
the  head  of  the  women's  meeting, 
or  ventured  in  winter  storms,  pro- 
tected in  its  satin  or  oil-skin  case  under  the  Friendly 
umbrella,  or  even  lay  alone  in  splendid  state  upon  the 
bed  of  the  welcome  guest — anywhere,  everywhere,  it 
was  a  solemn  thing.  Born  of  much  meditation,  con- 
structed with  care  and  skill  and  many  pricks  (if  not  of 
conscience,  at  least  of  fingers  *) ;  with  time  and  money 
and  eyesight  lavished  recklessly  upon  it,  that  no  devia- 
tion of  a  pleat  from  the  pattern,  or  tint  from  the 
color,  or  grain  from  the  quality  might  be  wanting — 
shades  of  our  grandmothers !  Can  we  get  our  bonnet 
sufficiently  in  perspective  to  realize  that  it  is  already  a 
matter  of  history,  that  the  next  generation  will  know 
the  true  Quaker  bonnet  no  more,  and  that  if  some  of 
these  matters  of  custom  and  costume  of  the  past  among 
the  Friends  are  not  soon  preserved,  valuable  oppor- 
tunities for  future  students  of  the  Quaker  will  be  lost  ? 
Let  us  try. 

*  Plain  bonnet-making  was  a  trade  exceedingly  hard  on  the  fingers. 


190  '^^^   QUAKER. 

Again  it  becomes  necessary,  in  order  to  study  the 
Quaker  headdress,  to  examine  first  the  worldly  bonnet 
and  mode  of  dressing  the  hair.  The  clue  to  all  the 
changes  within  the  Society  may  be  found  without;  and 
not  a  pleat  of  the  bonnet  as  now  worn  by  the  plainest 
Friend;  not  a  turn  of  the  shawl,  not  a  flare  of  the  coat 
nor  a  roll  of  the  hat-brim,  but  had  its  origin  at  some 
remote  day — ^let  us  whisper  it  softly — in  Paris !  There 
was  a  time  when  the  bonnet,  which  for  the  sake  of  dis- 
tinction, we  shall  call  Elizabeth  Fry's — the  "  techni- 
cal "  Quaker  bonnet,  so  to  speak,  known  among  the  ir- 
reverent as  the  "  coal-scuttle,"  or  "  sugar-scoop,"  or 
"  stiff-pleat " — was  a  new  thing  in  America.  It  came 
to  this  country  on  the  head  of  an  accredited  English 
woman  Eriend,  Martha  Routh,*  who  was  also  a  min- 
ister; and  echoes  of  its  coming  had  preceded  her.  A 
contemporary  journal,  still  in  existence,  tells  us: 

Martha  Routh,  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  from  Old  England^ 
■was  at  Goshen  (Pennsylvania)  Meeting  the  11th.  day  of  11th.  mo. 
1798;  was  a  means  (if  I  mistake  not)  of  bringing  bonnets  in  fash- 
ion for  our  leading  Frd's,  and  hoods  or  Caps  on  the  Cloaks  in 
the  Galleries,  which  of  Latter  time  the  Hoods  on  the  Cloaks 
of  our  overseers  and  other  active  members  have  increased  to  an 
alarming  hight  or  size: — how  unlike  the  dress  of  their  grand- 
mothers! t 

What  should  we  not  give  to  behold  that  same 
"  dress  of  their  grandmothers  !  "  Martha  Routh 
made  a  second  visit  to  America  in  1802.  She  writes  in 
her  Journal  on  her  return  home  after  her  first  visit  that 


*  Martha  Routh,  born  1743,  died  1817. 

tFrom  "A  Memorandum  Book  belonging  to  Ennion  Cook,  of 
Birmingham,  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,"  dated  1820.  Eunion  Cook 
■was  the  village  schoolmaster,  and  the  old  memorandum  book  is  in  posses- 
sion of  a  descendant. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  191 

thej  were  taken  bj  a  French  privateer,  when  a  young 
man  in  the  boarding  party  remarked  to  her  that  she 
and  her  women  companions  looked  like  the  nuns  in 
France.  "  I  told  him,"  she  says,  "  that  we  were 
Friends  or  Quakers,  and  inquired  if  they  had  heard  of 
such  in  their  country  ?  He  replied  that  they  had."  * 
But  American  Friends  have  always  been  more  con- 
servative in  their  dress  than  their  English  cousins, 
probably  because  the  latter's  proximity  to  the  conti- 
nent forced  them  into  more  cosmopolitan  habits.  At 
any  rate,  American  Friends  were  shocked  at  the  giddy 
structure.  But  time  went  on.  They  gazed,  they  ad- 
mired, they  stole  a  furtive  pattern;  they  made  the  ven- 
ture, and  behold!  When  a  synonym  was  wanted  for 
conservatism,  for  stability,  for  all  things  that  endure, 
it  was  found  in  the  Quaker  bonnet.  How  sad  that  it 
must  soon  be  as  extinct  as  the  dodo!  To  understand 
the  evolution  of  this  bonnet,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back 
more  than  three  hundred  years,  and  see  through  what 
changes  the  worldly  bonnet  has  passed. 

The  faces  of  fifteenth  century  women,  declares 
Viollet  le  Due,  were  of  a  uniform  type;  the  prevailing 
style  of  headdress  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  hav- 
ing a  tendency  to  cause  a  superficial  resemblance 
among  persons  really  unlike.  Individuality  is  ob- 
scured by  the  universal  adoption  of  a  distinctive  effect 
in  bonnets  or  gowns.  This  illusion  of  similarity  is 
marked  among  the  few  existing  portraits  of  that  period, 
when  the  imposing  "  steeple  headdress "  was  the 
mode.  That  towering  structure  was  composed  of  rolls 
and  rolls  of  long  linen,  reaching  two  feet  above  the 

*  Journal  of  Martha  Routh,  p.  280. 


192  ^'ffJE;    QUAKER. 

head,  and  going  to  a  point  like  an  extinguisher,  from 
"whose  apex  floated  a  long  gauzy  veil.  Until  the  evo- 
lution of  the  Quaker  bonnet,  no  headdress  existed 
lending  such  uniformity  of  type  to  the  faces  it  sur- 
mounted, the  "  commode  "  and  the  "  high  head  "  not 
excepted.  The  "  head  rail  "  of  the  Saxon  period,  and 
the  "  wimple  "  or  "  gorget "  of  Plantagenet  times, 
came  down  to  the  early  seventeenth  century  as  the 
hood,  with  which  we  shall  presently  make  closer  ac- 
quaintance. The  "  head  rail "  was  not  shaped  at  all, 
but  consisted  merely  of  a  long  piece  of  linen  or  stuff 
drawn  over  the  head  like  a  hood,  and  loosely  wrapped 
about  the  neck,  the  grace  of  the  latter  movement,  even 
on  the  most  ungainly,  exceeding  that  of  the  partly 
shaped  wimple,  which  was  more  attractive  in  early 
English  poetry  than  in  actual  life  !  The  wimple  was  of 
silk  or  white  cloth;  and  when  discarded  by  the  women 
of  the  period  was  retained  as  the  "  gorget "  by  the 
nuns,  who  to-day  may  thus  trace  the  origin  of  the  white 
band  worn  about  face  and  throat,  under 
the  black  hood.*  So  universal  was  the 
hood  that  men  as  well  as  women  wore  it; 
and  it  remained  in  general  use  until  the 
time  of  Henry  VIILf  About  1644,  both 
in  France  and  England,  we  find  again 
the  "  coif,"  usually  worn  in  black,  and 
really  another  form  of  hood  of  crepe  or 
taffetas,  brought  forward  and  tied  under  the  chin.:j: 
Small  bonnets  or  hoods,  with  two  long  "  pattes,"  behind 

*Hm,  "  History  of  English  Dress."    Vol.  I.,  p.  61. 

t  See  chapter  on  Hats. 

JQuicherat,  "Histoirede  Costume." 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


193 


the  ears,  or  "  mouchoirs  "  with  lace,  or  "  toquets  "  of 
velvet  (called  "  bonnets  de  plumes  "  because  worn  with 
so  many  plumes),  were  all  tentatively  suggesting  the 
coming  riot  of  headdress.  A  handkerchief  of  lace  fas- 
tened with  a  pin,  covered  the  hair  in  the  time  of  Riche- 
lieu; and  the  "coif"  of  deshabille,  often  called  the 
"  round  bonnet  "  ("  sans  passe  ?  ")  became  the  bonnet 
after  many  years  seen  in  the  accompanying  engraving 
of  the  "  Fair  Quaker."  French  women  of  the  lower 
classes,  and  servants,  wore  the  "  coif  "  with  two  long 
"  drapeaux  "  or  "  bavolettes  "  streaming  down  be- 
hind— doubtless  the  origin  of  the  modern  "  bavolet." 
English  women  of  the  common- 
alty in  the  seventeenth  century 
wore  broad  hats  like  the  men,  of 
beaver,  with  lower  crowns,  and 
caps  beneath,  tied  at  the  chin. 
The  black  beaver  hat  was  also 
popular  for  riding.  It  was  not 
a  universal  custom  with  the  low- 
er classes  at  this  period  to  cover 
the  head  at  all;  while  shortly 
after,  by  way  of  contrast,  Pepys 
tells  us  that  the  aristocracy  did 
not  remove  the  hat,  even  at  table.  When  the  wimple  was 
worn  under  the  hat,  the  latter  was  fastened  on  with  a 
hat-pin;  so  that  there  is  truly  nothing  new  under  the 
sun,  not  even  this  modern  convenience.  At  the  end  of 
Queen  Anne's  reign,  the  revival  of  the  silk  trade  gave 
a  temporary  popularity  again  to  the  silk  hood.  The 
pointed  beaver  hat  with  the  cap  below,  although 
chiefly  a  middle-class  costume,  was  in  vogue  among  a 


1635. 
(From  Hollar. ) 


194 


THE   QUAKER. 


few  of  the  plainer  in  taste  of  the  aristocracy,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  portrait  of  Hester  Pooks,  second  wife  of 
John  Tradescant,  the  younger.  She  lived  from  1608 
until  1678;  her  portrait  hangs  on  the  stairway  of  the 
Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford.  She  wears  a  costume 
exactly  similar  to  the  Quakeress  Tub-Preacher,  includ- 
ing cap  and  peaked  beaver  hat,  the  only  difference  in 
dress  being  the  rich  lace  upon  her  gown. 

This  peculiar  headdress  has  remained  from  the  time 
of  James  I.  (who  is  responsible  for  the  beaver  hat  in 
this  form)  to  the  present  day  among  the  Welsh  women; 
and  almost  all  of  the  earliest  prints  of  the  Quaker 
women  who  preach,  show  them  dressed  in  this  cap  and 
hat.  It  is  impossible,  in  examining  any  of  these  pic- 
tures, to  avoid  the  suggestion  that  here  is  the  hat  of  the 
conventional  witch  of  our  childhood — the  old  woman, 
who,  for  so  many  years,  has  swept  the  cobwebs  from  the 
sky;  and  we  are  justified  in  the  conclusion.  The  steeple- 
crowned  hat  was  worn  over  the 
hood  about  the  period  between 
1650  and  1675;  it  was  popular 
with  the  middle  and  lower 
classes,  and  familiar  throughout 
the  kingdom.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  terrible  witch 
trials  of  the  Continent,  England 
and  Massachusetts  in  America, 
all  culminated  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  sufferers  being  chiefly  drawn 
from  the  class  who  wore  this  dress.  What  more  natural 
and   inevitable    than   that    the   woman   who   wore    so 


From  "  Meraoires,  etc., 
d'Angleterre."    1698. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME. 


195 


striking  a  garb  should  need  but  a  broomstick  to  en- 
able her  to  set  out  as  the  typical  witch,  in  her  journey 
to  immortality  and  posterity  ?  *  The  ideal  Quaker 
man's  garb  is  that  of  this  period,  as  seen  in  the  well- 
known  broad-brim  of  William  Penn,  immortalized  even 
in  "  Quaker  Oats,"  and  on  boxes  of  lye.  But  the  proper 
companion  for  him  is  the  witch  of  story;  while,  curi- 
ously enough,  the  type  of  the  Quakeress  did  not  crys- 
talize  until  time  gave  us  Elizabeth  Fry,  a  century  and 
a  half  later. 

Soon  after  this  early  period  the  "  City  Flat  Caps  " 
became  prominent,  and  were  worn  by  both  sexes  in  a 
modified  form.  The  edict  went  forth  that  the  three- 
cornered  minever  caps  for 
women  should  not  be  worn 
by  the  wives  of  those  who 
were  not  "  gentlemen  by 
descent."  f  The  little  black 
hood,  in  the  Stuart  period, 
was  getting  to  be  thought 
old-fashioned,  but  its  be- 
comingness  retained  it  long 
in  popularity.  The  large 
"  capuchins,"  of  which  we 
read  for  many  years  after 
this,  were  riding-hoods,  very  popular  among  the 
young  Quakeresses.  It  was  probably  this  style  of  hood 
whose  strings  annoyed  the  dear  men  Friends  of  South- 

*The  high-crowned  hats  and  point-lace  aprons  in  which  the  "  Merry- 
Wives  of  Windsor  "  are  often  shown,  belong  properly  to  the  seventeenth 
century  and  not  the  fifteenth.  The  pointed  hat  is  still  the  stock  property 
of  old  women  to  the  present  day. 

tGeorgiana  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress."     Vol.  I.,  p.  226. 


196  THE   QUAKER. 

wark  Meeting,  London,  in  1707,  bj  dangling  down,  on 
their  heads  when  hung  on  the  rail  above.  These  "  capu- 
chins "  were  ample  enough  for  storm  garments,  and,  in- 
deed, belonged  properly  under  that  head.*  The  meet- 
ing records  say: 

It  being  taken  notice  of  that  several  women  Friends  at  the 
Park  Meeting  do  usually  hang  their  riding-hoods  on  the  rail  of 
the  gallery,  whereby  the  Friends  that  sit  under  the  rail  of  the 
gallery  are  incommoded,  It's  left  to  Robert  Fairman  and  Mary 
Fairman  to  take  order  for  remedying  the  same.t 

The  "  capuchin  "  came  into  this  country  as  a  fashion- 
able hooded  cloak  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
shared  its  popularity  with  the  smaller  "  cardinal,"  a 
similar  garment  or  hood,  so  named  because  the  original 
was  of  scarlet  cloth,  like  the  mozetta  of  a  cardinal. 
The  capuchin  (named  from  its  resemblance  to  the  gar- 
ment distinguishing  the  monks  of  that  order)  was  worn 
by  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  plain  and  gay;  and  the 
Friends  talked  unhesitatingly  about  their  "  capuchins  " 
and  ''  cardinals,"  when  nothing  would  have  induced 
them  to  mention  the  "  heathen  "  days  of  the  week,  or 
the  months  of  the  year !  Such  things  do  even  "  con- 
sistent "  Friends  come  to  when  they  seek  a  literal 
gospel. 

The  old  hood  came  with  the  Pilgrims  into  New  Eng- 
land, and  for  two  centuries  was  worn  by  high  and  low. 
The  subject  of  covering  the  head  had  been  receiving 
the  attention  of  the  Puritan  divines,  and  they  exceeded 


*  Other  varieties  of  these  were,  "  hongrelines,"  "cabans,"  "  royales," 
"  balandras,"  "  houppelandes,"  "  mandilles,"  "  roquets,"  etc.  Quic-lierat, 
"  Histoire  de  Costume  en  France,"  p.  458. 

tBeck  and  Ball,  "  History  of  London  Friends'  Meetings,"  p.  227. 


A    STUDY   IN    COSTUME. 


197 


Cromwell's  Time. 
(After  Reptoa.) 


the  Quakers  in  their  notice  of  such  matters.  It  must 
at  no  time  be  thought  that  the  Quakers  were  alone  in 
their  extreme  care  for  the  dress 
of  their  constituency.  The  Puri- 
tan clergymen  preached  more 
about  bonnets  and  hats  than  ever 
the  Quakers  did  ;  and  their 
opinions  were  very  varied.  For 
instance,  Mr.  Davenport,  at  New 
Haven,  preached  that  the  men, 
upon  the  announcement  of  the 
text,  should  remove  their  hats 
and  stand  up;  Mr.  Williams,  un- 
der whose  care  was  the  flock  at  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
exhorted  the  women  of  his  congregation  to  wear 
veils  during  public  worship,  quoting  Scripture  pre- 
cedent, of  course;  while  a  brisk  discussion  took 
place  between  Cotton  and  Endicott,  at  Boston, 
on  the  7th  of  March,  1633,  at  the  "  Thursday 
Lecture,"  as  to  whether  all  women  should  veil  them- 
selves when  going  abroad.  Mr.  Cotton  argued  that,  as 
by  the  custom  of  the  place,  veils  were  not  considered  in 
I^ew  England  a  sign  of  the  subjection  of  women,  they 
were  in  this  case  not  commanded  by  the  Apostle. 
Endicott  took  the  other  side,  demanding  the  proper 
covering  of  the  head,  particularly  in  time  of  worship. 
Soon  after,  at  Salem,  Cotton  preached  so  effectively, 
that  one  Sabbath  day  sermon  sufficed  to  convince  his 
female  hearers  of  the  correctness  of  his  attitude,  and 
the  veil  did  not  become  customary.* 


*Dr.  Dexter,  "  As  to  Roger  WUliams,"  p.  31. 


198  ^^^   QUAKER. 

A  sumptuary  law  of  James  II.,  in  Scotland,  ordains, 
"  That  noe  woman  come  to  the  kirk  or  mercat  [mar- 
ket] with  her  face  mussled,  that  sche  may  nocht  be 
kend,  under  the  pane  of  escheit  of  the  curchie."  * 
There  were  many  minds. 

The  World,  a  periodical  for  1753,  contains  a  let- 
ter condemning  the  ladies  for  wearing  their  hats  in  the 
churches  during  divine  service,  as  transgressing  against 
the  laws  of  decency  and  decorum.  At  the  arraignment 
of  Ann  Turner  before  the  King's  Bench  in  1615,  for 
the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury: 

The  Lord  Chief  Justice  told  her  that  women  must  be  covered 
in  the  church,  but  not  when  they  are  arraigned,  and  so  caused 
her  to  put  off  her  hat;  which  being  done,  she  covered  her  hair 
with  her  handkerchief,  being  before  dressed  in  her  hair,  and  her 
hat  over  it.f 

In  1726,  an  advertisement  in  the  Boston  News  Letter 

of  September  relates  the  loss  of  a  hood: 

On  the  Sabbath,  the  28th  of  August  last,  was  taken  away  or 
Stole  out  of  a  Pew  at  the  Old  North  Meeting  House,  A  Cinnamon 
Colour'd  Woman's  Silk  Camblet  Eiding-Hood,  the  head  faced 
with  Black  Velvet. 

We  are  tempted  to  hope  the  "  cinnamon  colour'd 
woman  "  got  her  hood  back  again  !  :{; 

The  hat  was  a  fashionable  rival  to  the  hood,  and  both 
men  and  women  alike  appeared  in  felt,  beaver  and 
castor  hats.  The  earliest  variety  of  the  Puritan  hat 
knew  no  difference  for  the  two  sexes.  A  "  straw  hatt  " 
left  in  the  will  of  Mary  Harris,  of  which  Mrs.  Earle 
tells  us,  was  a  great  rarity  in  New  London  in  the  year 
1655,  and  would  have  been  so  equally  in  London  itseK 

*PercySoc.    Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  77. 

t  Archseologia.    Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  61. 

I W.  R.  Bliss,  "  Side  Glimpses  from  the  Colonial  Meeting-house." 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME. 


199 


at  the  same  date.     We  should  much  like  to  know  what 

might  have  been  the  shape  of  the  "  Ladies  Newest 

Fashion   White   Beaver  Riding-Hats,"   advertised  for 

sale  in  Boston  in   1773.      They  had  been  called   an 

"affectation  "  by  all  but  the  ultra-fashionable.     Pepys, 

the  ever-watchful,  notices  one  of  the  earliest  hats  with 

commendation.     "  I  took  boat  again,"  he  says,  "  being 

mightily  struck  with  a  woman  in  a  hat  that  stood  on 

the  key."  *     By  degrees  the  tall,  steeple-crowned  hats 

became  relegated  to  the  country  women,  and  the  poorer 

class  in  the  towns.     Ward,  speaking  of  an  assembly  of 

"fat,  motherly  flat-caps,"  at  Billingsgate,  says: 

Their  chief  Clamour  was  against  High  heads  and  Patches;  and 
said  it  would  have  been  a  very  good  Law,  if  Queen  Mary  had  ef- 
fected her  design  and  brought  the  proud  Minks's  to  have  worn 
High  Crowned  Hats  instead  of  Top-Knots.f 

Elizabeth,  the  mother 
of  Cromwell,  sacrifices 
no  taste  to  her  Puritan- 
ism, but  wears  a  hand- 
kerchief with  broad  point 
lace,  and  a  green  velvet 
"  cardinal,"  the  hood  just 
described  as  affected  by 
the  Quaker  women,  A 
lady  of  rank,  in  Paris, 
in  1664,  is  shown  in  a 
hood  of  the  same  style. 
Indeed,    in    these    stormy    Puritan    times,    some    peo- 


*  Pepys'  Diary,  June  11th,  1666. 

t  Misson,  London  Spy.  Quoted  by  Ashton.  See  also  letters  of  Mme. 
de  Sevigne  for  a  description  of  her  daughter's  hair,  as  arranged  by  Martin, 
court  hair-dresser. 


200  THE   QUAKER. 

pie  came  to  regard  plain  dress  as  an  affectation, 
put  on  just  as  the  French  ladies  at  the  court  of 
Marie  Antoinette  all  took  to  playing  dairymaid. 
Still  another  hood  for  riding  was  the  "  Nithesdale  "  of 
the  early  eighteenth  century.  ISo  garments  were  more 
popular  than  this  and  the  "  cardinal  "  among  the  young 
Quakeresses,  as  letters  of  the  period  testify. 

The  Riding-Hood. 

Let  traitors  against  kings  conspire. 
Let  secret  spies  great  statesmen  hire, 
Nought  shall  be  by  detection  got, 
If  women  may  have  leave  to  plot; 
There's  nothing  clos'd  with  bars  or  locks 
Can  hinder  nightrayls,  pinners,  smocks, 
For  they  will  everywhere  make  good, 
As  now  they've  done  the  Riding-hood. 

Oh  thou,  that  by  this  sacred  wife. 

Hast  saved  thy  Liberty  and  life. 

And  by  her  wits  immortal  pains, 

With  her  quick  head  hast  sav'd  thy  brains: 

Let  all  designs  her  worth  adorn, 

Sing  her  anthem  night  and  morn. 

And  let  thy  fervent  zeal  make  good, 

A  reverence  for  the  Riding-hood.* 

The  song,  of  which  these  are  the  last  two  stanzas, 
was  composed  after  the  battle  of  Preston,  when  Sir 
William  Maxwell,  Earl  of  Nithesdale,  and  a  supporter 
of  the  house  of  Stewart,  was  taken  prisoner.  He  was 
tried  and  sentenced  to  death.  By  the  skill  of  his 
Countess,  who  disguised  him  in  her  dress  and  large 
hood,  he  escaped  from  the  Tower  the  evening  before 
the  sentence  was  to  have  been  executed,  and  died  in 

*  Percy  Society.    Vol.  XXVII.,  p.  207. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  201 

Home  in  1744.  The  pluck  of  the  heroic  Countess  was 
celebrated  throughout  England,  and  the  hood  which  so 
largely  contributed  to  the  success  of  the  disguise,  be- 
came thereafter  known  as  the  "  ISTithesdale." 

The  "  mob  "  was  a  rather  slovenly  undress,  always 
spoken  of  disparagingly.  There  were  advertised 
"  Women's  laced  Head-Cloths,"  commonly  called 
"  Quaker's  Primers,"  and  "  Dowds."  *  The  later  tur- 
bans of  the  "  Cranf ord  "  ladies  will  at  once  come  to 
mind,  although  this  formidable  headdress  was  for  elabo- 
rate and  state  occasions  as  well.  A  beautiful  painting 
in  the  Louvre  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  of  J.  Anger- 
stein  and  his  wife,  shows  the  turban  at  its  best.  From 
the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  until  the 
period  of  the  French  Revolution,  ladies'  headdress  un- 
derwent rapid  and  appalling  changes.  A  satirical 
pamphlet  (quoted  by  Quicherat)  names  "  coiffures  a  la 
culbutte  "  and  "  a  la  daguine  ";  in  1750  we  find  them 
"  en  dorlette,"  ''  en  papillon,"  "  en  equivoque,"  "  en 
vergette,"  "  en  desespoir,"  "  en  tete  de  mouton." 
Mademoiselle  Duthe  is  described  as  wearing  "  un  bon- 
net de  conquete  assuree !  "  Changes  were  made  with 
lightning  rapidity.  A  despairing  beau  in  the  London 
Magazine,  in  April,  1762,  wrote: 

Then  of  late,  you're  so  fickle  that  few  people  mind  you; 
For  my  part,  I  never  can  tell  where  to  find  you! 
Now  dressed  in  a  cap,  now  naked  in  none. 
Now  loose  in  a  mob,  now  close  in  a  Joan: 
Without  handkerchief  now,  and  now  buried  in  ruff; 
Now  plain  as  a  Quaker,  now  all  of  a  puff.f 

*  Ashton,  "  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  p.  134. 
fFrom  "  A  Repartee,"  London  Magazine,  April,  1762. 


202 


TEE   QUAKE  I!. 


'Lavinia"  chip  hat  for  walking; 

trimmed  with  white  sarsenet 

ribbon,  1819. 


A  "  Lavinia "  unbleached  chip  hat,  trimmed  with 
white  sarsenet  ribbon,  was  shown  in  1810.     The  white 

satin  cap  underneath  was  sup- 
plemented with  an  artificial 
rose  in  the  front  of  the  bon- 
net. The  ladies  at  this  time 
all  talked  about  the  arrange- 
ment of  their  "  hind  "  hair, 
which  was  often  worn  "  a  la 
Grecque,"  the  other  half  into 
which  the  "  hind  "  hair  was 
divided,  being  down  the  back 
in  fascinating  ringlets!  Jane 
Austen,  the  novelist,  wrote 
her  sister  Cassandra  from  London  in  1811: 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  I  am  getting  very  extravagant  and 
spending  all  my  money.  .  .  .  Miss  Burton  has  made  me  a  very 
pretty  bonnet  and  now  nothing  can  satisfy  me  but  I  must  have 
a  straw  hat  of  the  riding-hat  shape. 

Not  long  before  she  had  written: 

I  am  quite  pleased  with  Martha  and  Mrs.  Lefroy  for  wanting 
the  pattern  of  our  caps;  but  I  am  not  so  well  pleased  with  your 
giving  it  to  them.  Some  wish,  some  prevailing  wish,  is  neces- 
sary to  the  animation  of  everybody's  mind;  and  in  gratifying 
this,  you  leave  them  to  form  some  other  which  will  not  probably 
be  half  so  innocent.  .  .  .  Flowers  are  very  much  worn,  and  fruit 
is  still  more  the  thing.  ...  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  is 
more  natural  to  have  flowers  grow  out  of  the  head  than  fruit. 
What  do  you  think  on  that  subject  ?* 

There  were  "  conversation  "  or  "  cottage  "  bonnets, 
of  straw  or  chip.  The  style  was  really  a  modified  coal- 
scuttle; "the  most  fashionable  straw  bonnets  for  the 


*0.  F.  Adams,  "  The  Story  of  Jane  Austen's  Life,"  pp.  69-151. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  203 

promenade  are  the  conversation  cottage,  which  have 
have  been  much  distinguished  for  their  negligent  neat- 
ness !  "  The  "  mountain  "  hat  also  enjoyed  large  pro- 
portions. In  1808,  straw  hats  and  bonnets  were  only 
used  in  walking  or  morning  costume.  In  carriage  or 
evening  dress,  the  hair  was  worn  with  veils,  flowers, 
lace  handkerchiefs  or  similar  light  attire. 

Ann  Alexander,  an  English  Friend,  who  was 
in  America  in  1805,  is  said  by  the  daughter  of 
the  Friend  who  was  her  hostess  in  this  country,  to 
have  taken  her  bonnet  to  pieces  in  order  to  turn  the 
silk,  when,  to  the  surprise  of  the  American,  the  Eng- 
lish woman's  plain  bonnet  was  discovered  to  have  had 
a  foundation  of  straw. 

The  "  commode,"  already  described,  was  a  pon- 
derous headdress,  with  such  a  place  in  history  and 
literature  that  its  adventures  would  fill  a  volume. 
Its  banishment  took  a  special  edict  on  the  part  of 
Queen  Anne.*  But  the  Quakeresses  do  not  seem 
generally  to  have  fallen  a  prey  to  its  enchant- 
ments. With  its  departure  it  again  became  possi- 
ble to  dress  the  hair  low.  During  its  reign  hats, 
which  began  to  appear,  some  of  them  in  turban  shape, 
had  had  no  more  connection  "^vith  the  head  than  the 
"  chapeau  bras  "  of  the  men.  At  one  time  hat  hrims 
only  were  worn  to  shade  the  eyes,  a  whole  hat  on  such 
a  structure  being  manifestly  a  work  of  supererogation ! 

But  through  it  all  the  hood  in  some  form  still  re- 
mained. A  popular  cap  for  indoors  at  this  time  was  the 
"  fly-cap,"  in  shape  like  a  butterfly,  edged  with  garnets 
and  brilKants.     The  ladies  at  home  also  wore  the  "  cor- 

*The  name  commode  does  not  appear  to  have  been  used  in  America. 


204 


THE   QUAKER. 


nette,"  a  little  hood  with,  long  ends  made  of  a  strong 
gauze  called  "  marli,"  or  even  of  baptiste.  They  were 
later  the  constant  wear  of  the  peasant  women  about  and 
after  1730.  In  this  class  the  hood  neglige  was  without 
ends.  The  "  bagnolette  "  was  an  outdoor  protection, 
something  on  this  order.  In  France 
it  was  the  "  capeline  sans  bavolet."  * 
It  was  really  the  old  coif  of  Louis 
XIV. 's  time,  worn  on  the  back  of  the 
head,  and  without  anything  at  nape 
of  neck.  The  old  cape  worn  by 
elderly  ladies  became  the  mantelet. 
This  was  for  cold  weather,  while  the 
"Cornette."  mantilla  was  a  summer  garment  worn 
qumiSr^of  °bio"n!fe  ^^^6  ^  ^^^g  fichu,  throwu  over  the 
IfT^i^on^'tov.     head  and  knotted  on  the  breast.    The 

style      is      French,  .,.,  ,  -  .  ,    i 

''simply  elegant  and       mantilla   and  mantle  must  not    be   con- 
becoming  "  1 

October,  1816.  founded.  The  latter  was  often  a 
large  furred  pelisse,  buttoned  from  top  to  bottom 
in  front,  and  affording  perfect  protection.  There 
were  broad-brim  straw  hats  in  the  early  days  of 
Queen  Anne,  and  for  holidays  the  high-crowned 
hat  of  beaver  still  had  some  vogue,  f  The  straw  hat 
came  in  as  early  as  the  reign  of  James  II.  (1685 
to  1688),  and  the  hoods  for  a  short  time  were  dis- 
carded, to  be  revived  again  under  French  influence 
in  1711.  Pepys  says:  "  They  had  pleasure  in  putting 
on  straw  hats,  which  are  much  worn  in  this  coun- 
try." At  this  time  there  was  a  feeble  return  to  sim- 
plicity, and  one  writer  says :     "  The  ladies  have  been 

*  Quicherat. 

t  Ashton,  "  Social  Life  in  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  p.  248. 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  305 

moulting,  and  have  cast  great  quantities  of  lace,  rib- 
bons, and  cambric."  Swift  writes  to  Stella:  "May 
19tli.  1711;  There  is  a  mighty  increase  of  dirty  wenches 
in  straw  hats  since  I  knew  London."  * 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  America,  as  long  as 
the  negro  women  were  slaves,  they  were  forced  by  their 
mistresses  to  wear  the  bandanna  head-handkerchief 
as  the  badge  of  their  servitude.  When  the  Civil  War 
set  them  at  liberty  this  detested  badge  was  cast  off,  and 
the  many  tails  and  curious  knots  peculiar  to  the  true 
African  style  appeared,  as  Mr.  Bliss  says,  "  the  real  in- 
heritance of  ancestral  taste  in  chignons,  straight  from 
Guinea !  "  There  were  many  names  for  the  varieties 
of  hood  in  England,  for  as  many  years,  and  the  old  bal- 
lads and  broadsides  have  helped  to  preserve  these. 
For  instance,  "Fine  Phillis,"  printed  in  1745,  but 
much  older  in  date,  has  the  following: 

She's  a  fine  lady. 

When  she's  got  her  things  on; 
On  the  top  of  her  head 

Is  a  fine  burgogon — 
A  crutch  there  on  the  side 

To  show  her  off  neat, 
And  two  little  confidants 

To  make  it  compleat. 

The  bourgoigne  was  that  part  of  the  headdress  near- 
est the  head — the  "  crutch  "  (cruche)  and  "  confidants  " 
were  curls.  The  hoods  were  "  shabbarons  "  (chaperon) 
and  "  sorties  " ;  the  latter,  a  walking  hood.  Cardinals 
and  capuchins  have  been  described.  "  Rayonnes  "  were 
hoods  pinned  in  a  circle,  like  sunbeams. 


*  Journal  to  Stella. 


206  ^^^   QUAKER. 

The  dress  of  Anne  of  Cleves,  when  brought  to  Eng- 
land to  marry  Henry  the  Eighth,  is  thus  described  as 
to  the  headdress: 

She  had  on  her  head  a  kail  [caul]  and  over  it  a  round  bonet 
or  cappe  set  ful  of  orient  pearle  of  a  very  proper  fassyion,  and 
before  that  she  had  a  cornet  of  black  velvet  and  about  her  necke 
she  had  a  partlet  set  full  of  riche  stones  vrhich  glistered  all  the 
felde.* 

The  "  pinched  cap  "  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite 
matter  of  allusion  to  characterise  the  Quaker  women 
by  many  of  the  old  contemporary  writers.  Tom 
Brown,  who  lived  certainly  until  1704,  and  who,  of 
course,  had  little  but  derision  for  the  Quakers,  says: 
"  What  have  we  here  ?  Old  Mother  Shipton  of  the 
second  edition,  with  amendments;  a  close  black  hood 
over  a  pinched  coif,  etc."  The  "  Querpo  hood  "  f  worn 
chiefly  by  the  Puritans  and  plainer  people,  was  also  a 
Quaker  peculiarity  after  it  was  discarded  by  the  world- 
ly. Ned  Ward,  in  a  dialogue  between  a  termagant  and 
her  miserly  husband,  makes  her  say: 

No  face  of  mine  shall  by  my  friends  be  viewed 
In  Quaker's  pinner  and  a  Querpo  hood. 

The  first  mention  that  Mrs.  Earle  finds  of  bonnets  in 
any  records  of  New  England  is  in  the  year  1725,  when 
two  were  sent  to  England  in  the  wardrobe  of  Madame 
Usher.  By  1743  they  were  popular,  and  the  middle 
of  the  century  saw  bonnets  of  many  shapes — "  Sattin," 
"  Quilted,"  "  Kitty  Fisher,"  "  Quebeck,"  "  Garrick," 

*  Quoted  by  Repton,  Archseologia,  XXVII.,  p.  37. 

t"  Querpo  "was  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  Cuerj)o,  signifying 
close  fitting.  An  undress.  The  body  "in  querpo" — t.  c,  in  body-cloth- 
ing—close.   See  Hudibras : 

"  Exposed  in  querpo  to  their  rage 
Without  my  arms  &  equipage." 


•/■*n-.r"-^^ 


^h^ 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  207 

"  Prussian,"  "  Eanelagh,"  and  others.  They  were  of 
"  plain  and  masqueraded  newest  fashion  crimson,  blue, 
white  and  black."  There  is  no  hint  of  the  shapes,  un- 
fortunately. We  are  told  of  the  Puritan  women  in  a 
certain  congregation,  that  "  ye  women  may  sometimes 
sleepe  and  none  know  by  reason  of  their  enormous  bon- 
nets. Mr.  White  doth  pleasantlie  saye  from  ye  pulpit 
hee  doth  seeme  to  be  preaching  to  stacks  of  straw  with 
men  among  them  !  "  In  1769,  in  Andover,  it  was 
"  put  to  vote  whether  the  Parish  Disapprove  of  the 
Female  sex  sitting  with  their  Hattes  on  in  the  Meeting 
House  in  time  of  Divine  Service  as  being  Indecent " 
(with  a  capital  I !).  The  "  Hattes  "  were  ordered  off, 
but  with  no  more  effect  than  if  the  meeting  house  had 
been  a  modern  theatre ! 

The  calash,  invented  by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford  in 
1765  was  so  much  more  like  a  buggy-top,  or  covering  to 
a  gig,  both  in  form  and  size,  that  it  can  hardly  be 
termed  a  bonnet,  except  that  to  cover  the  head  was  its 
sole  function. 

It  was  made  of  thin  green  silk  shirred  on  strong  lengths  of 
rattan  or  whalebone  placed  two  or  three  inches  apart,  which 
were  drawn  in  at  the  neck;  and  it  was  sometimes,  though  sel- 
dom, finished  Avith  a  narrow  cape.  It  was  extendible  over  the 
face  like  the  top  or  hood  of  an  old-fashioned  chaise  or  calash, 
from  which  latter  it  doubtless  received  its  name.  It  could  be 
drawn  out  by  narrow  ribbons  or  bridles  which  were  fastened  to 
the  edge  at  the  top.  The  calash  could  also  be  pushed  into  a 
close  gathered  mass  at  the  back  of  the  head.  Thus,  standing  well 
up  from  the  head,  it  formed  a  good  covering  for  the  high-dressed 
and  powdered  coiffures  of  the  date  when  they  were  fashionably 
worn — from  1765  throughout  the  century;  and  for  the  caps  worn 
in  the  beginning  of  this  century.  They  were  frequently  a  foot 
and  a  half  in  diameter.  .  .  .  They  were  seen  on  the  heads  of  old 


208  ^^^  QUAKER. 

ladies  in  country  towns  in  New  England  certainly  until  1840  and 
possibly  later.  In  England  they  were  also  worn  until  that  date, 
as  we  learn  from  Mrs.  Gaskell's  "  Cranford "  and  Thackeray's 
"  Vanity  Fair."  * 

The  '■  punkin "  hood  was  the  winter  mate  to  the 
calash  in  ^ew  England,  quilted  with  rolls  of  wadding, 
and  drawn  tight  between  the  rolls  with  strong  cording. 
It  was  very  heating  to  the  head. 

The  caps  of  the  women  in  this  country  by  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century  were  in  great  variety. 
"  Fly  caps  "  appear  here  also.  "  Round  ear'd  caps  " 
had  no  strings;  "  strap  caps  "  had  a  band  passing  un- 
der the  chin.  A  little  boy,  aged  eight  years,  wrote  to 
his  Quaker  grandmother: 

Burlington,  12  mo.  23,  1833. — Mother  wears  long-eared  caps 
now,  and  I  think  they  look  better  than  the  old  ones.  She  has 
worn  them  a  considerable  time  now,  and  I  have  got  quite  recon- 
ciled to  the  change. 

His  mother  at  this  time  was  about  thirty-five. 

"  Bugle  fly-caps "  were  worn  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1760.  Mob  caps  are  described  by  Mrs.  Earle  as  a 
"  caul  with  two  lappets,"  and  as  we  may  learn  from 
many  old  portraits,  were  much  worn.  The  "  mobs  " 
were  no  doubt  the  streamers  which  gave  the  name  to 
the  cap,  and  their  undue  length  proved  a  source  of  un- 
easiness to  the  Quakers,  The  mob  cap  is  most  familiar 
to  us  in  the  portraits  of  Martha  Washington,  and  it  is 
undoubtedly  the  English  original  of  her  cap  which  fur- 
nished the  pattern  for  the  familiar  type  of  head  dress 
worn  by  Elizabeth  Fry  and  Amelia  Opie.  The  milk- 
maids of  London  on  a  May-Day  were  a  sight,  in  yellow 

•  Alice  Morse  Earle,  "  Costume  of  Colonial  Times,"  p.  72. 


A  STUDY  IN  COSTUME.  209 

and  red  quilted  petticoats,  pink  and  blue  gowns,  mob 
caps  with  lace  ends,  and  flat  straw  hats  with  lace  lap- 
pets, named  for  Peg  Woffington.* 

From  this  time  on  we  find  some  form  of  the  hat  al- 
ways present.  The  wide  style  of  hair  dressing  per- 
mitted a  lower  hat  or  cap;  and  at  one  time  fashionable 
women  wore  countrified  straw  hats.  Grosley  (early 
George  III.)  says  of  Lord  Byron's  trial:  "  Many  ladies 
had  no  other  headdress  but  a  riband  tied  to  their  hair, 
over  which  they  wore  a  flat  hat  adorned  with  a  variety 
of  ornaments."  This  hat  had  a  "  great  effect."  "  It 
affords  the  ladies  who  wear  it  that  arch  roguish  air 
which  the  winged  hat  gives  to  Mercury."  f  Close  caps, 
ridiculed  as  "  night-caps,"  literally  hoodwinking  the 
wearer,  were  born  in  1773,  and  three  styles  of  hair 
dressing  are  quoted  for  that  year:  "  A 
slope  bag  with  no  curls,  the  front  toupee  /T^^N, 
brought  high  and  straight;  a  long  bag 
with  about  six  curls,"  or  "  the  hair 
straight  with  about  nine  curls  cross- 
ways."  Small  chip  hats  were  added.  But 
the  universal  cap,  once  worn  by  young 
as  well  as  old,  was  going  out;  and  by 
June,  1795,  at  the  Royal  Birthday  fes- 
tivities not  a  cap  was  to  be  seen.  The  last 
hood  had  disappeared  five  or  six  years  earlier, 
and  the  hat  and  bonnet  had  the  field.  We  are 
told  of  "  bewitching  straw  hats  with  open  brims  tied 
under  the  chin,  worn  in  summer;  and  straw  hats  so 

*  Hill,  "  History  of  English  Dress,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  182. 
t  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  50. 


210 


TEE    QUAKER. 


round  and  close  as  to  look  like  caps,  with  which  daintv 
little  white  veils  were  worn  half  way  over  the  face." 
Bonnets  had  been  enormous,  the  tremendous  "  poko  " 
having  come  in  with  French  fashions  after  the  French 
war.     This  was  the  bonnet  of  which  Moore  wrote: 

That  build  of  boiinct  whose  extent 
Should,  like  a  doctrine  of  Dissent, 
Puzzle  church-goers  to  let  it  in; — 
Nor  half  had  reached  the  pitch  sublime 
To  which  trim  toques  and  berets  climb; 
Leaving,  like  lofty  Alps  that  throw 
O'er  minor  Alps  their  shadowy  sway, 
Earth's  humbler  bonnets  far  below. 
To  poke  tlurough  life  their  fameleaa  way. 


Parisian  Promenade  Hat.     1816. 

Bonnets  had  fallen  back  to  more  decent  dimensions 
after  the  French  revolution,  and  hats  received  a  round 
form  that  justitied  their  Parisian  name  of  "  chapeaux 
casques."  *     London  still  remained  for  a  time  the  para- 


•"  Le  Cabinet  des  Modes  "    rejoicingly  said,  "  Nos  moeurs  commen- 
cent  a  s'6purer :  le  luxe  tombe." 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME. 


4 

211 


dise  of  the  "  high  head,"  and  ostrich  feathers  and 
})lumes  had  yet  a  vogue.  The  bonnet,  indeed,  had 
hardly  a  fair  chance,  for  the  towering  coiffures  made  it 


1776. 


not  only  unnecessary,  but  almost  impossible.  The 
Times,  in  1794,  says  "  The  ladies'  feathers  are  now 
generally  carried  in  the  sword-case  at  the  back  of  the 
carriage."     A  little  later  came  a  paragraph  as  follows: 

There  is  to  be  soon  on  Queen  Street  a  coach  on  a  new  construc- 
tion. The  ladies  ait  in  a  well,  and  see  between  the  spokes  of  the 
wheels.  With  this  contrivance,  the  fair  proprietor  is  able  to 
go  quite  dressed  to  her  visits,  her  feathers  being  only  a  yard 
and  a  half  high! 

With  the  entrance  of  the  nineteenth  century  came  a 
simpler  coiffure,  and  white  satin  and  black  velvet  hats 
were  worn  on  the  lowered  hair.  It  was  now  the  ladies' 
turn  to  wear  hats  indoors,  and  they  danced  and  dined 
and  appeared  at  functions  in  their  hats,  just  as  they  car- 


212  TEE   QUAKER. 

ried  white  muffs  for  evening  dress.  A  silver  bear  muff 
in  1799,  in  Philadelphia,  cost  $14.00,  one  of  grey  bear 
$19.00. 

Snuff-taking  vras  not  unusual  among  refined  people. 
There  are  plenty  of  references  to  the  old-fashioned 
Quaker  women  of  the  South  indulging  in  a  bed-time 
'pipe,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  the  more  fashionable 
"  snuffed."  In  Puritan  New  England  a  clergyman 
held  forth  against  mitts,  calling  them  "  wanton,  open- 
worked  gloves  slit  at  ye  thumbs  and  fingers  for  ye  pur- 
pose of  taking  snuff  !  "  Dolly  Madison,  the  favorite 
and  adored  of  society  in  America,  was  an  ardent  snuff- 
taker.  "  You  are  aware  that  she  snuffs,  but  in  her 
hands  the  snuff-box  seems  a  gracious  implement  with 
which  to  charm." 

All  Paris  wore  hats  indoors.  Then  came  the  for- 
midable turban,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made,  destined  later  to  become  the  cap.  At  this  period 
even  young  girls  wore  caps;  and  up  to  1845  "  day- 
caps,"  with  ribbon  ends  as  long  as  bonnet  strings,  and 
tied  under  the  chin,  were  worn.  As  the  styles  seem 
always  to  have  been  calculated  for  elderly  women,  it 
may  be  fancied  what  an  effect  they  had  on  a  young 
face !  The  bonnets  of  1850  were  round  and  flared  wide 
in  front,  permitting  the  cap  below  to  be  seen.  Then  a 
frill  was  substituted  for  the  cap,  which  then  and  there 
had  its  death  blow,  for  the  young,  at  least.  England  is 
still  eminently  the  land  of  caps,  so  far  as  the  older 
ladies  are  concerned.  Miss  Hill  describes  "  black  lace 
bonnets  with  a  cape  or  curtain  at  the  back,  worn  over  a 
hood  made  of  white  lawn  tied  under  the  chin  " — a  fash- 
ion surviving  in  the  bonnets  with  white  frilled  front 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  213 

worn  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  still 
occasionally  met  with  among  old-fashioned  people. 

Fairholt  has  given  us  a  beautiful  old  Scotch  version 
of  "  The  Garment  of  Gude  Ladies,"  belonging  to  the 
fifteenth  century,  which  describes  such  a  lady's  head- 
dress as  might  be  the  Quaker  ideal : 

Would  my  gude  lady  hife  me  best 

And  wark  after  my  will, 
I  suld  ane  garment  gudliest 

Gar  mak  hir  body  till.* 
Of  he  honour  suld  be  hir  hud,t 

Upon  hir  heid  to  wear; 
Gamiest  $  with  governance  so  good, 

Na  demyng  suld  hir  deir.§ 

It  has  seemed  necessary  thus  to  dwell  upon  the  his- 
tory of  the  worldly  bonnet,  in  order  the  better  to  fol- 
low the  progress  of  that  of  the  Quaker.  We  may  thus 
trace  the  succession  of  the  latter's  changes.  First  came 
the  plain  hood,  together  with  the  pointed  high  hat  sur- 
mounting a  similar  hood;  the  two  styles  almost  con- 
temporary, and,  at  least  with  those  not  Quakers,  often 
significant  of  class  distinctions.  Then  came  the  adop- 
tion by  degrees,  and  with  many  compunctions  of  con- 
science, of  the  hat  and  bonnet  in  varying  form.  The 
line  of  descent  is  quite  evident  from  the  time  of  the 
"  capuchin  "  and  "  cardinal "  or  other  form  of  hood, 
which  among  the  worldly,  served  as  an  outdoor  dress 
in  the  day  of  the  "  high-head,"  down  to  the  end  of  the 

*  Cause  to  be  made  for  her. 

t  Of  high  honor  should  be  her  hood. 

X  Garnished. 

§  No  opinion  should  dismay  her — cause  her  to  fear  censure.    Percj 
Society,  XXVII.,  p.  59. 


214  THE   QUAKER. 

eighteenth  century.  The  Quakers  simply  retained  it 
through  all  the  mutations  of  fashion,  until  the  intro- 
duction of  the  bonnet,  the  flat  hat  having  kept  parallel 
with  it  until  the  evolution  of  the  bonnet  of  Quakerism 
in  the  last  century.  Why  the  flat  hat  should  have 
seemed  more  plain  to  the  dear  Friends,  than  the  small 
and  modest  affair  at  first  introduced  as  the  "  bonnet," 
it  would  puzzle  us  to  determine.  But  the  real  bonnet 
was  not  accepted  by  the  Friends  without  many  misgiv- 
ings; and  the  women  of  Aberdeen,  always  careful  of 
the  letter  of  the  law,  thus  cautioned  their  younger 
members  in  the  year  1703: 

"As  touching  Bonnets — it  is  desired  that  a  question 
be  moved  at  the  Quarterly  Meeting  whether  any  should 
be  worn,  yea  or  nay."  And  the  meeting  thus  put  it- 
self on  record  on  this  momentous  question;  that 
"  though  they  might  be  lawful,  it  was  not  expedient  to 
wear  them  !  "  * 

Can  am'thing  be  more  delicious  than  this  verdict  ? 

Priscilla  Hannah  Gurney  was  one  who  long  retained 
the  old-fashioned  black  hood,  which  gave  much  char- 
acter to  her  appearance.  So  late  as  1818,  Katherine, 
daughter  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  remembered  this  ancient 
Quakeress  relative,  who  had  had  great  influence  upon 
her  famous  mother.  Priscilla  Gurney  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Christiana  Barclay.  She  is  described 
as  slight  in  build,  and  elegant  in  figure  and  manner, 
dressing  in  the  hood,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
long  after  it  had  been  discarded  by  others.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  plain  Quaker  bonnet  has  been  an  evolu- 

*  Minutes  of  Aberdeen  Monthly  Meeting,  4  mo.,  1703. 


A    STUDY   IN   COSTUME. 


215 


18th  Century  Flat  Hat. 


tion  from  the  original  flat  hat  of  beaver  of  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  bonnet  one 
degree  less  plain,  with 
a  square  crown,  and 
gathers,  instead  of 
pleats,  would  seem  to 
be  the  lineal  descend- 
ant of  the  peculiar  hat- 
like bonnet  worn  by 
the  "  Fair  Quaker "  of  our  engraving.  It  is  prob- 
ably that  against  which  Aberdeen  took  exception 
as  "  not  expedient,"  and  marks  a  transition  period 
in  bonnets  in  the  world,  as  well  as  in  the  ranks 
of  Quakerism.  But  the  history  of  the  flat  hat  is 
of  great  interest.  Specimens  of  these  still  exist, 
and  it  is  from  one  of  these  that  our  illustration 
is  taken.  The  thought  of  putting  on  the  worldly 
construction  from  Paris  may  have  alarmed  the  plain 

Quakeress  under  her  broad 
hat  a  century  ago.  But  who 
could  have  foreseen,  in  the 
dip  of  the  brim  that  she  gave 
to   her  flat  hat  by  tying  its 

Bonnet  of  Martha,  wife  of  Samuel  Strings     Uudcr    her     chiu,     the 
Allinson,  of  Burlington,  N.  J. ;  ,       .  <•      i  i 

died  1823.    No  strings,  one  eVOlutlOn    01    tllC    prCSCUt    DOU- 
large  box  pleat  in  soft 

<=™"''^-  net?     The  dip  eventually  be- 

came secured  by  permanent  strings;  a  soft  crown  or 
cape  was  added  to  the  resulting  cylinder,  and  the  "  crea- 
tion "  was  complete !  The  illustrations  are  from 
contemporary  articles,   showing  the   evolution  of  the 


216  THE   QUAKER. 

hat  into  tlie  bonnet,  and  the  change  from  the  first 
soft  crown  that  was  tentatively  added  to  the  un- 
compromising five  stiff  pleats  of  the  Quaker  bonnet  in 
its  highest  development. 

Watson,  the  annalist  of  Philadelphia,  says:  "  The 
same  old  ladies  whom  we  remember  as  wearers  of  the 
white  aprons,  wore  also  large  white  beaver  hats,  with 
scarcely  the  sign  of  a  crown,  and  which  was  confined  to 
the  head  by  silk  cords  tied  under  the  chin."  A  re- 
cent writer  *  tells  the  following  tale,  which  was  re- 
lated to  him  by  an  aged  relative,  to  the  effect  that  she 
remembered  "a  distinguished  female  preacher  sitting 
in  the  '  gallery  '  of  a  country  meeting  house  in  summer, 
with  one  of  these  broad,  flat,  dish-like  white  beavers  on 
her  head,  when  a  cock,  flying  in  through  the  low,  open 
window,  behind  the  *  gallery,'  and  perhaps  mistaking 
the  hat  for  the  head  of  a  barrel,  perched  upon  it  and  ut- 
tered a  vigorous  crow  !  " 

In  the  year  1Y86,  Ann  Warder,  who  came  out  at  that 
date  from  London  to  join  her  husband  at  Philadelphia, 
went  up  into  the  country  to  attend  the  funeral  of  her 
old  friend,  Eobert  Valentine.  She  was  asked,  very 
much  to  her  consternation,  to  sit  in  the  "  ministers' 
gallery,"  but  made  her  escape.  "  I  felt  so  conscious  of 
being  higher  than  I  ought  to  be,  intirely  among  Cloth 
Hats,''  she  wrote,  "  that  I  beg'd  to  return  near  the 
Door  with  the  excuse  it  would  be  cooler."  *  Those 
beaver  hats  were  to  the  Quaker  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury what  the  plain  bonnet,  technically  so  called,  has 

*  R.  M.  Smith,  "  The  Burlington  Smiths,"  p.  157. 
fMS.  Journal  of  Ann  Warder,  1786-1789. 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  217 

been  to  the  nineteenth  century  Quaker.  Yet  one  who 
should  now  appear  in  Arch  Street  Meeting,  Philadel- 
phia, wearing  that  strange  garb  of  other  days  would 
be  looked  at  askance,  and  hardly  admitted  into  full 
standing,  any  more  than  a  certain  Irish  Friend,  who 
not  long  since  appeared,  wearing  the  dress  of  William 
Penn.  Indeed,  George  Fox  and  William  Penn  would 
themselves  find  a  very  dubious  welcome,  if  that  wel- 
come depended  either  on  their  dress  or  their  methods ! 
A  Friend  in  a  Southern  Quarterly  Meeting  in  Caro- 
lina early  in  the  nineteenth  century  sent  up  to  Philadel- 
phia, then  the  center  of  Quaker  fashion,  for  a  black 
plain  bonnet,  laying  aside  her  beaver  hat.  For  this 
proceeding,  and  its  evidence  of  what  the  Friends  were 
pleased  to  regard  as  her  hopeless  worldliness,  she  was 
severely  "  dealt  with  "  by  the  officers  of  her  meeting. 
There  were  heart  burnings,  we  may  be  sure,  over  bon- 
nets then,  even  if  they  were  not  worldly,  and  an  old 
family  letter  written  by  my  grandmother  in  1829,  says: 

" had   a  great   deal   to   say   on   the  inroads   of 

fashion,  etc.,  and  spoke  so  particularly  as  to  men- 
tion the  young  women  having  one  kind  of  bonnet 
to  wear  in  the  streets,  and  another  to  meeting. 
This  is  very  generally  the  case,  I  believe."  We 
may  be  glad  to  think  that  the  modern  young  Quak- 
eress has  no  such  temptations  to  hypocrisy.  The 
same  writer  adds,  a  short  time  later,  "  A  plain  young 
man    is    hardly  to    be    found    anywhere    now,   and 

Susan  B says  plain  hats  are  hardly  even  asked  for 

now.  I  mean  bonnets,  for  all  are  called  hats  here." 
This  was  in  'New  York,  in  1830. 


218  TEE   QUAKER. 

A  painting  of  Gracechurch  Street  Meeting,  London, 
about  1778,  shows  a  large  assemblage  in  a  pillared 
hall;  whose  dignity  and  dimensions  are  quite  imposing. 
It  is  lighted  solely  from  the  roof.  The  men  sit  on  one 
side,  the  women  on  the  other,  both  in  rising  seats  and 
on  the  main  floor.  Some  of  the  women  wear  the  newly- 
introduced  bonnet,  like  that  of  the  "  Fair  Quaker,"  and 
others  wear  the  flat  beaver  or  "  skimming-dish  "  hat, 
in  some  cases  tied  down  over  the  ears;  in  others,  not.  A 
few  of  the  older  women  wear  hoods.  Many  of  the  men 
are  in  wigs,  and  all  wear  cocked  hat,  skirt-coat,  and 
knee-breeches.  All  wear  their  hats,  except  the 
preacher,  whose  cocked  hat  hangs  on  a  peg  in  the  wall 
behind  him.  Groups  of  the  "  world's  people  "  look 
down  upon  the  worshiping  Friends  from  the  galleries 
above,  each  group  apparently  accompanied  by  a  plain 
Friend  who  sits  with  them.  This  picture  is  very  inter- 
esting, as  showing  the  period  of  transition  to  the  plain 
bonnet,  and  fully  demonstrating  the  extent  to  which 
the  cocked  hat  and  wig  were  worn  among  the  Quakers 
during  the  height  of  that  fashion.  It  is  worth  noting 
that  the  seats  all  have  the  luxury  of  backs — not  a  com- 
mon thing  by  any  means  in  the  meetings  of  the  day. 

A  Dutch  engraving  entitled,  "Assemblee  des  Quak- 
ers a  Amsterdam — Un  Quaker  qui  preche,"  shows  a 
plain  room  lighted  from  a  dome  in  the  ceiling.  The 
hard  benches,  without  backs,  are  occupied  by  m.en  in 
full  skirted  coats,  wigs  and  cocked  hats.  They  carry 
enormously  long  canes,  fastened  to  the  wrist  by  a  cord. 
A  few  worldly  men  standing  as  spectators  in  the  back- 
ground,   wear    swords.     The    hat-brims    of    two    men 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  219 

Friends  are  not  cocked.  The  women,  plain  and  gay 
alike,  wear  hoods,  and  many  of  them  crinoline.  The 
date  of  the  picture  is  much  earlier  than  the  preceding. 
A  lovely  picture  of  a  young  Quakeress,  called  "  The 
Bride,"  published  originally  in  the  Aurora  Borealis, 
a  literary  annual  of  !Rewcastle-upon-Tyne,  in  the  year 
1833,  shows  a  sweet  young  woman  in  cap  and  handker- 
chief, her  shawl  lightly  thrown  over  her  shoulders,  and 
her  plain  bonnet  lying  on  the  table  beside  her.  The 
cap  is  an  exaggeration  of  that  of  Martha  Washington, 
and  the  bonnet,  it  will  be  observed,  has  a  soft  crown. 
That  worn  by  the  Queen,  in  August,  1849,  on  the 
Koyal  Yacht,  in  Kingston  Harbor,  has  a  similar  shape, 
except  that  it  is  probable  that  the  Queen's  was  some- 
what stiffened  in  the  crown.  Mrs.  Lucock,  of  Beau- 
mont-road, Plymouth,  who  is  84  years  of  age,  is  able  to 
recall  with  undiminished  pride  and  satisfaction  the  fact 
that  she  once  made  a  bonnet  for  the  late  Queen  in  an 
early  year  of  her  reign.  Mrs.  Lucock  was  at  the  time 
a  young  woman  employed  in  a  London  business  which 
had  the  orders  for  the  Koyal  bonnets,  the  size  and  shape 
of  which  gained  for  them  the  name  of  "  coal-scuttles." 
It  is  an  impressive  lesson  to  one  who  thinks  that  the 
Quakers  have  cut  their  clothes  by  their  rule  of  con- 
science, and  always  worn  the  same  style  of  garment,  to 
examine  the  cuts  and  modes  in  a  Parisian  fashion  jour- 
nal of  1840-1849,  called  "  Le  Conseiller  des  Dames," 
from  one  of  which  our  plate  is  taken.  There  our 
Friend  may  see  the  plain  bonnet  of  to-day,  exactly  re- 
produced for  the  ladies  of  fashion,  and  worn  by  Queen 
Victoria,  with  only  the  ostrich  plume  to  betoken  any 


220  THE   QUAKER. 

difference  existing  between  Quaker  and  worldly.  The 
young  Quakeresses  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury were  given  to  wearing  silk  and  satin  bonnets  of 
very  delicate  light  colors,  pearl  gray  and  a  rose  pink 
being  favorites.  The  quilled  bonnets,  and  those  with 
a  plain  front  and  gathered  crown,  both  now  adhered  to 
in  Philadelphia,  and  considered  plain,  may  here  be  seen 
in  their  beginning,  and  that  the  modification  for  every 
bonnet  has  had  its  inspiration  in  Paris,  there  seems  no 
possible  doubt.  It  has  been  with  the  Quaker  bonnet,  as 
with  every  other  garment  the  Quaker  has  ever  worn: — 
the  cut  has  originated  in  that  center  of  all  ideas  of  fash- 
ion, and  the  abode  of  taste,  Paris;  while  the  expression 
of  Quakerism  lay  simply  in  the  absence  of  any  super- 
fluous adornments.  In  this  one  idea  lies  the  secret  of 
Quaker  dress.  Anything  that  has  tended  to  pervert 
this  into  a  uniform,  unchanging  and  arbitrary,  has  been 
directly  counter  to  the  true  spirit  of  simplicity  and 
meekness  which  characterized  the  early  Friends. 

Sarah  Dillwyn,  the  wife  of  the  well-known  Quaker 
preacher,  George  Dillwyn,  wrote  to  her  sisters  in 
America,  upon  her  arrival  in  London,  early  in  the  year 
1784: 

My  G.  D.*said  he  did  not  wish  me  to  look  singular,  and  my 
bonnet  was  much  so  ...  so  out  she  went  and  bought  some  nice  thin 
"mode"  such  as  they  wear,  and  made  it  presently  herself;  she 
would  have  me  wear  a  cloak  of  hers  with  a  hood,  as  the  plainest 
of  them  do.  .  .  .  She  had  on  a  quilled  rovmd  hat  of  gauze,  white 
shade,  and  I  think,  a  cream-coloured  dress,  but  not  so  bedizened 
as  I've  seen  some; — and  a  little  round  hoop.  The  girls  did  not 
look  tawdry;  .  .  .  Neither  of  them  answers  George  Fox's  descrip- 
tion; fte  paints  high!* 

*  J.  J.  Smith,  ' '  Letters  of  the  Hill  Family,"  p.  247. 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  221 

Marj  Holgate  was  a  plain  bonnet  maker  in  Philadel- 
phia two  generations  ago.  Her  finger  became  injured 
through  making  the  hard  pleats  in  the  bonnet  crowns, 
and  she  lost  the  use  of  her  hand.  This  incident,  to- 
gether with  the  retirement  of  the  popular  bonnet- 
maker,  caused  in  that  city  a  much  greater  use  of  bon- 
nets with  the  more  easily  made  gathered  crowns,  since 
which  period  these  bonnets  have  received  the  sanction 
of  the  plainest  wearers.  This  style  of  bonnet  has  been 
referred  to  as  the  "  shun-the-cross."  An  aged 
Friend  of  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  a  young  girl,  promised  her  father  on  his  death-bed 
that  she  would  never  put  on  the  stiff-pleated  plain  bon- 
net, then  beginning  to  be  worn,  and  considered  very 
gay,  as  our  extracts  have  abundantly  shown.  She  kept 
her  word,  and  although  she  was  a  plain  Friend  and  lived 
to  the  great  age  of  ninety-four,  she  never  flinched  in  her 
determination  to  keep  her  promise,  although  the  flat 
hat  that  was  the  substitute  made  her  very  conspicuous, 
at  a  period  when  the  stiff-pleat  had  become  correct  for 
the  most  severe.  Finally,  after  having  made  a  solitary 
appearance  at  a  certain  western  meeting  for  many 
years,  wearing  that  conspicuous  headdress,  she  deter- 
mined that  she  could  still  keep  her  promise  to  her 
father,  and  be  less  conspicuous,  by  wearing  an  uncon- 
ventional bonnet  of  her  ow^n  invention.  A  green  lin- 
ing which  she  put  in  it  when  well  advanced  in  years 
rather  surprised  her  friends;  but  she  informed  them 
that  it  was  a  "  relief  to  her  eyes  in  the  sunshine."  Her 
granddaughter  had  a  green  wool  gown  which  she  feared 
her   grandmother   might   regard   as   too   gay.     When 


223 


THE    QUAKER. 


questioned  about  it,  her  grandmother  said,  "  jSTo  harm 
in  wearing  green  and  blue;  the  grass  is  green,  and  the 
sky  is  bhie  !  "  She  died  in  1857,  having  moved  from 
the  South  to  Ohio,  then  called  "  Northwest  Territory," 
about  1803.  Some  interesting  old  Quaker  bonnets  may 
be  seen  in  the  collection  of  ancient  garments  at  the 
Museum  in  Nantucket,  Massachusetts.     A  Quaker  bon- 


net of  black  silk,  of  the  date  1728,  has  small  stiff  pleats 
in  the  crown;  while  one  of  drab,  dating  from  the  Revo- 
lution, has  much  larger  stiff  pleats,  showing  the  devel- 
opment of  the  present  Philadelphia  "  plain  "  bonnet, 
known  in  ISTew  England  as  the  "  Wilburite  "  bonnet. 
There  is  also  in  the  same  collection,  one  labeled  "  Eng- 
lish "  bonnet,  distinguished  chiefly  by  a  wider  flare  to 


A    STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  223 

the  front.  The  English  bonnets  seem  always  to  have 
had  a  shorter  front,  and  a  wider  flare  at  the  face;  in 
fact,  to  have  had  a  much  more  sensible  shape,  if  com- 
fort was  to  be  considered  at  all,  as  it  evidently  was  not 
in  America !  Nothing  more  dangerous  could  have 
been  devised  for  an  elderly  person  whose  sight  or  hear- 
ing was  somewhat  defective  than  the  long  tunnel  sides 
of  the  pasteboard  front  of  a  plain  bonnet  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

Ann  Warder,  whose  journal  has  already  been 
quoted,  was  remonstrated  with  by  an  intimate  friend 
for  wearing  a  "  whalebone "  bonnet,  because  of  its 
greater  worldliness  than  one  of  pasteboard,  as  the  early 
plain  bonnets  were  always  called.  We  should  be  glad 
to  know  what  the  condemned  bonnet  was  like.  Quite 
probably  the  lining  was  of  some  bright  color,  and  the 
"  casing  "  or  "  drawn  "  bonnet  is  no  doubt  its  natural 
successor.  Apropos  of  the  "  pasteboard  "  bonnets,  we 
may  read  in  Poulson's  Daily  American  Advertiser 
for  Saturday,  August  23d,  1828,  among  the  Philadel- 
phia advertisements,  the  following  notice:  "Bonnet- 
boards — 50  groce  of  good  quality  at  a  low  price,  and  a 
few  groce  of  fine  quality."  They  were  for  sale  by 
James  Y.  Humphreys,  at  86  South  Front  Street. 
Doubtless  these  were  the  foundations,  for  the  fronts  of 
both  worldly  and  plain  bonnets  consisted  of  pasteboard 
forms,  over  which  the  silk  or  other  covering  was 
stretched,  resulting  in  the  "  poke  "  or  the  "  coal-scut- 
tle "  as  might  happen.  The  same  interesting  Warder 
Journal,  which  went  in  instalments  to  an  English  sister 
in  London,  has  the  following  entry: 


224  ^^^   QUAKER. 

September,  1788.  [Ann  Warder  had  no  dread  of  the  "  heath- 
en "  names  of  the  months.]  I  put  no  cloak  on  this  forenoon,  but 
was  obliged  to  afterward,  not  to  look  singular,  for  some  had  long 
ones  lined  with  Baize  down  to  there  toes,  but  no  hoods,  instead 
of  which  a  lay-down  coular  [collar]  which  would  look  very  dis- 
agreeable to  me  but  for  the  Cape  to  there  Bonnets,  hiding  the 
neck.  Black  are  worn  more  here  than  with  us; — no  Brown  ex- 
cept Cloth. 

This  was  at  Yearly  Meeting  time,  then  in  the  au- 
tumn, to  prepare  for  which  she  had  written  just  before : 

9mo.  22. — This  forenoon  I  sat  pretty  close  to  my  needle,  in 
some  degree  preparing  for  Yearly  Meeting,  wishing  to  want  noth- 
ing in  the  Cap  or  Apron  way  that  week. 

The  thieves  that  she  mentions  as  having  broken  into 
the  house  during  the  previous  week,  made  off,  among 
other  things,  with  "  a  new  white  Myrtle  gown,  a  petti- 
coat, apron,  boots,  J's  new  white  hat  and  two  old  ones." 
The  "  Cape  to  there  Bonnets,  hiding  the  neck,"  was 
that  of  the  "  wagon  "  bonnet,  so  called  from  its  resem- 
blance to  the  top  of  a  "Jersey"  wagon;  they  were 
usually  of  black  silk,  and  had  a  pendant  piece  of  the 
same  from  the  back  of  the  bonnet,  covering  the  shoul- 
ders. The  "  wagon  "  bonnet  antedated  the  "  coal- 
scuttle," still  lingering  among  us.  It  was  the  style 
worn  by  Rebecca  Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  the  friend  of 
John  Woolman. 

But  the  plain  bonnet  had  its  intricacies,  and  it  is 
not  for  the  stranger  to  learn  them  in  a  day.  Like  the 
stars,  one  bonnet  differeth  from  another  in  glory. 
Eventually,  modifications  of  the  extreme  conservative 
crept  in;  and  we  have  the  popular  close  bonnet,  with 
fine  gathers  rather  than  pleats,  and  a  shorter  front, 
which  allows  itself  a  furtive    bow    under    the    square 


A   STUDY  IN   COSTUME.  225 

crown,  and  which  is  found  in  the  more  modern  shades 
of  blacks  and  browns,  rather  than  the  original  drabs 
and  grays,  called  long  ago  bj  an  irreverent  young 
Friend,  the  "  shun-the-cross  "  bonnet.  It  daily  grows 
harder  to  discern  social  differences  in  congregations  by 
means  of  the  once  infallible  test  of  hats  and  bonnets. 
Even  among  the  worldly,  the  distinction  of  class  dress 


Bonnet  from  doll  model  of  costume  of  Rebecca  Jones,  of  Philadelphia ; 

died  1817.    Dressed  by  "Sally  Smith,"  of  Burlington,  N.  J.    Soft 

gathered  crown,  large  cape  with  three  points— one  on  each 

shoulder  and  one  in  center  of  back. 

is  nearly  or  quite  obliterated.  It  is  therefore  a  sur- 
prise to  find  a  sect  in  Pennsylvania  who  "  disown  "  at 
the  present  day  for  gaiety  of  attire — a  thing  not  known 
now  among  Friends  for  many  years.* 

The  plain  bonnet,  too,  has  had  its  romance.     In  the 


*  The  Public  Ledger  for  November  1, 1899,  had  the  following  remark- 
able notice : 

"barred  from  church  by  hat 

"Miss  May  oiler,  of  Waynesboro,  .  .  .  who  lately  returned  from  a  trip 
to  the  Holy  Land,  has  been  expelled  from  the  Antietam  German  Baptist 
Dunkard  Church  for  discarding  the  plain  bonnet  for  a  pretty  creation  of 
the  milliner's  art.  At  a  meeting  of  the  church  authorities  in  July,  Miss 
Oiler  was  notified  that  she  must  return  to  the  wearing  of  tlie  bonnet,  and 
that  she  would  be  given  until  October  to  put  away  her  hat.  .  .  .  Although 
the  defence  was  set  up  that  the  annual  meeting  had  made  the  wearing  of 
a  hat  or  bonnet  discretionary,  Miss  Oiler's  expulsion  was  ordered  by  a 
large  majority.  .  .  .  Miss  Olier  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  Bishop  Jacob 
F.  Oiler." 


226  THE   QUAKER. 

days  when  it  concealed  youth  and  beauty,  and  the 
broad-brim  had  to  bend,  in  order  to  see  within  its 
depths,  hearts  were  warm  and  faces  gay,  even  in  sober 
garb;  and  the  old  story  was  whispered  just  the  same 
in  the  long  tunnel  of  the  bonnet.  The  little  street 
urchins  were  once  said  to  have  chased  a  beautiful  Quak- 
eress some  distance  down  the  street  of  one  of  our  great 
cities,  in  order  to  run  around  in  front  and  peep  up  at 
the  lovely  laughing  eyes  that  met  their  admiring 
glances.  One  young  bride  is  said  to  have  threatened  to 
cut  a  slit  in  the  side  of  her  bonnet,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  see  her  new  husband  when  driving  beside  him  on 
their  way  to  meeting !  Are  we  not  to  suppose  that  his 
sentiments  might  have  been  those  of  the  Quaker  friend 
of  Wendell  Phillips,  as  he  sat  quietly  thinking  to  him- 
self: 

My  love's  like  a  red,  red  rose 

That's  newly  blown  in — the  Sixth  MontJi! 

Then,  too,  the  crashing  kiss  of  two  full-fledged 
Quaker  bonnets  is  something  awe-inspiring  to  contem- 
plate. The  bonnets  collide  at  top  speed;  occasionally 
they  have  been  known  to  telescope,  when  the  rescue  is 
effected  by  a  third  party.  The  usual  result,  however,  is 
to  send  each  bonnet  far  back  on  the  head  of  the  wearer, 
since  the  front  projects  some  inches  beyond  the  face 
— when  a  necessary  pause  for  readjustment  follows, 
infinitely  funny  to  a  spectator  blest  with  a  sense  of 
humor. 

ISTow  the  Quaker  philosophy  of  costume  is  essentially 
in  the  direction  of  plainness  and  moderation.  But  the 
study  we  have  been  making  shows  us  how  contrary  to 


A   STUDY   IN   COSTUME.  227 

the  true  spirit  of  Quakerism  the  technical  bonnet,  for 
instance,  really  is.  Adopted  in  the  days  of  decadence 
of  spirituality,  when  life  was  easy,  and  time  permitted 
infinite  attention  to  details,  the  bonnet  became  lit- 
erally a  snare,  a  fetish,  a  sort  of  class  distinction,  at  one 
time  almost  as  exclusive  in  its  work  as  the  mark  on  the 
forehead  of  the  high  caste  Brahmin.  That  day  is  effec- 
tually past;  the  modern  Quakeress  has  now  but  the  tra- 
dition to  preserve  of  the  outward  shell,  and  must 
address  herself  to  far  greater  moral  problems.  She 
must,  nevertheless,  like  Charles  Lamb,  who  loved  the 
Quakers,  endeavor  to  "  live  up  to  that  bonnet." 

Politics  and  religion  have  alternately  determined  the 
style  of  women's  headdress.  In  the  days  of  Charles 
James  Fox,  the  women  of  his  way  of  thinking  wore  a 
fox  tail  in  the  hat  or  bonnet.  To-day,  as  we  pass  along 
the  street,  the  nun,  the  Quaker,  the  Dunkard,  and  the 
Salvation  Army  girl  are  the  only  types  left  where  the 
doctrine  of  the  wearer  may  be  read  at  a  glance.  To 
the  initiated,  the  Quaker  bonnet  once  spoke  volumes; 
a  glance  sufficed  to  distinguish  Beaconite,  Wilburite, 
Maulite,  Gurneyite,  or  Hicksite,  and  the  dwellers  in 
the  Mesopotamia  of  the  East.  But  time  has  leveled 
distinctions  here  as  elsewhere  ;  and  manifestations 
of  doctrinal  difference  are  sought  to-day,  with  more 
regard  for  truth,  in  the  heart  rather  than  on  the 
head. 

The  venerable  Margaret  (Fell)  Fox,  eight  years  af- 
ter her  husband's  death,  raised  her  voice  in  warning 
against  legal  conformity,  seeing  in  the  society  for 
which  she  had  done  and  suffered  so  much  a  tendency 


228 


THE   QUAKER. 


altogether  contrary  to  the  spirituality  of  the  Gospel. 

From  her  published  epistles  we  extract  the  following: 

Legal  ceremonies  are  far  from  Gospel  freedom ;  let  us  beware  of 
being  guilty  or  having  a  hand  in  ordering  or  contriving  what  is 
contrary  to  Gospel  freedom;  for  the  Apostles  would  not  have 
dominion  over  their  faith,  but  be  helpers  of  their  faith.  It  is  a 
dangerous  thing  to  lead  young  Friends  much  into  tlie  observation 
of  outward  things,  which  may  easily  be  done,  for  they  can  soon 
get  into  an  outward  garb  to  be  all  alike  outwardly,  but  this  will 
not  make  them  true  Christians. 

Epistle  from  M.  Fox  to  Friends,  4  mo.,  1698. 


"Wilburite." 


1856. 


"Gurneyite." 


INDEX. 


Aberdeen  21,    140,   214 

Advices    4 

Alexander,   Ann  203 

Amsterdam   218 

Angerstein    201 

Anne,  Queen 10 

Apron    133-137 

"Aurora  Borealis  "   219 

Aylmer  81 

Bavolette    193 

Bodice    140 

Bolton,    John    146 

Bonaparte,    Prince   168 

Bourgoigne  205 

Brissot    159 

Brown,   Moses  107 

Budd,  Rachel  161 

Cadenette   101 

Calash  207 

Calico   169 

Callo%\hill,   Hannah    lao 

Camlet    41 

Cane  16,    17 

Canons  and  Institutions  75 

Cap 182,  208,  209 

Cape  224 

Capuchin 124,   196,   213 

Cardinal  57,   196,   213 

Carpet  23 

Casing   (Bonnet)    223 

Castor  59 

Cathcart,    Lady    106 

Cavalier 10 

Chalkley,   Thomas  . 139 

Chapeau  Bras  66 

Charles  1 16,  102,  104,  112 

Charles  II 68,   73,   95 

Charlotte,   Queen  130 

"Chronicle,"  London  33 

Classicism   167 

Claypoole,    James  146 


Clergy 8,  94,  197 

Cleves,  Anne  of 206 

Clogs  153,   179 

Coach   98 

Coal-scuttle  bonnet 190 

Coat,  Skirt  32 

Cocked  hat   63-65 

Collar 16,   36,  117 

Collins,    Isaac   161 

Colonists 39,  106 

Color 30,   31,   132,   133,   158 

Comb  145 

Commode  142,   144 

Coif   192,193 

Congenies   152 

Conscience   54 

"  Conseiller  des  Dames  "   219 

Conservatism   3 

"Conversation"  bonnet 202 

Cookworthy,  William 71,  79 

Comette  204 

"Cottage"  bonnet  202 

Cotton,   John    197 

Cranmer  9 

Crinoline    137 

Cromwell,    Elizabeth  199 

Cromwell,    Oliver   15 

Dartmouth 42,  107,  108 

Davenport,   John   197 

Dickinson,    Mary   158 

Dillwyn,  George 71 

Dillwyn,  Sarah 137,  166,  220 

Dillwyn,    William   99 

Doll    150,    151,    152 

Doublet 16,  39,  40,  41 

Dragoon    32 

"Drawn"   bonnet  223 

Drinker,   Elizabeth Ill,   164 

Drummond,    May 134,   135 

Dublin  21,  109 

Dunkard    227 

Dutch   158 


230 


INDEX. 


Edwards,    Jonathan   144 

Eliot,  John  106 

Ellwood,  Thomas   . .  12,  19,  84,  86,  102 

Embroidery    29 

Eralyn,  John 1,  93,  149 

Endicott,   Governor 106,  197 

EngUsh    bonnet   222 

Everett,  John 103 

Extravagance  9 

Falbala  ["furbelow"]   97 

Fan 153,  154 

Fashion  "babies"  150 

Feathers  211 

Fell,  Margaret  124 

Fell,    Sarah    125 

Felt    58,    59 

Fichu  140 

Flat   cap   195 

Flat  hat 214,  215 

Fothergill,  Dr 71,  99 

Fox  .   ..10,  14,  16,  18,  68-70,  75,  76,  96 

Franks,  Rebecca 164 

Fry,  Elizabeth 4,  174,  184 

Gardens 24 

Gay   49 

Germans   94 

Gorget    192 

Gracechurch    218 

Greaton    [Father]    9 

Grellet,    Stephen    103,  151 

Gurney,  Hannah 159 

Gurney,   Joseph  John  89 

Gumey,   Samuel  89 

Gurneys    173-177 

Handkerchief 128,  140 

Hanway,  Jonas 49 

Headdress   213 

Headrail   192 

Heart   breaker  143 

Heels  34 

Henrietta  Maria   147 

Henry  (Prince)  62 

Henry  VIII 98,  206 

Hetherington,    John    72 

Hogarth   20 

Holgate,    Mary   221 

Hood.  104,  193,  195-6,  198,  203,  205,  214 

Hoop   > 137 

Humphreys,  James  Y 223 


James  1 194 

James  II 74,  198 

Jefferson    39 

Jeffersonian  coat 39 

Jones,  Owen  71 

Jones,  Rebecca 151,  171,  224 

Jonson,   Ben  112 

Jordan,    Richard   88 

Keith,    Sir  William    78 

Kevenhuller  65 

Kinsey,    John    78 

Kirkbride,    Jonathan    41 

Kneel    75 

Kossuth   67 

Lace    16 

Lamb  38 

Lampoon 25,  28 

Lappet    209 

Latey,  Gilbert 20 

"  Lavinia  "   chip  hat  202 

Lay,   Benjamin  43 

Lay,    Sarah    44 

Leather   17,   31 

Lettsom,  Dr 71,  99 

Levite   166 

Limoges   151 

Lloyd,  Thomas  158 

Lloyds    38 

Logan,    ilaria   158 

Louis  XIV 34 

Lovelock    143 

Lower,    Thomas    128 

Macy,    Reuben    74 

Mandillions    40 

Mantelet    204 

Mantilla    204 

Marie  Antoinette 150 

Mason,    Martin   77 

Massachusetts   104 

Meade,    William     78 

Mennonites  11 

Methodist    144 

Minever   195 

Mirror   63,  64 

Mitts    180 

Mode   183 

Model    150 

Montague    76 

Montero  cap 84,  86,  87 

Mott,  Richard  42 


INDEX. 


231 


Mouchoir    192 

Moustache    94 

Mucklow,  William 76 

Muff   35,   212 

MuUiner,   John  112 

Nantucket  43,  108 

Napoleon  101 

Nayler,    James    9,    93 

Needham,   Ann  82 

Negro    205 

Newlin,  Nathaniel 49 

Nightgo\vii    146 

Nithesdale,  Earl  of 200 

Nollekins   136 

Nonconformity   123 

Norris,  Isaac 158 

Nugent  102 

Nuns    192 

Overbury,  Sir  Thomas  198 

Overcoat    42 

Overseers 22 

Pantaloons   37 

Pantelets  116 

Paris    190 

Parton,   James   94 

Pasteboard   223 

Patten  179 

Patterson,    Elizabeth   168 

Pattes  192 

Pembertons    71 

Penn,  Hannah  71 

Penn,    Thomas   71 

Penn,   Sir  W 62 

Penn,  William  16,  67,  78,  158,  184,  195 

Pennsylvania    105 

Pepys 100,  102,   106,  149 

Periwig    97 

Perot,  John  77 

Peter  the  Great  96 

Petition   79 

Petticoat   137 

Phelps,  N 82 

Philadelphia 108,  110,  152,  159 

Physician    46-48 

Pilgrim  40,  74 

Pinched    cap    206 

Pinners    153 

Plaid    131 

Plume  62,  63 


Points 17,  104 

Poke 209 

Poulson's  Advertiser  223 

"Precisions"  103 

Presbyterian   28,   29,    76 

Proud,  Robert  71 

"  Punkin  "    hood   208 

Puritan 12.   29,   73-4, 

94,    104,    106,    119,    157,    197,     207 

Querpo   206 

Queue  66,   101 

Quilled  bonnet  220 

Reel  131 

Reticule    166 

Revolution 163 

Richardson,  Richard 114 

Richelieu   193 

Riding  hat  199 

Riding  hood 155,  200 

Rilston   141 

Rochefoucauld,   de   la  159 

Rock 131-2 

Safeguard    155 

Sandwich  107 

Savery,  William  174 

Saxton    98 

Sewall,  Judge  106 

Shackleton,   Richard 137 

Shad  36 

Shattuck,  Samuel 82 

Shawl    171 

Shepard,   Hetty  106 

Shippen,    Edward   49 

Shirt   116 

Shoe-strings   34 

"Short  gown"   139 

"  Shun-the-Cross  "   bonnet 221 

Sleeves   180 

Snuff  153,   212 

Springett,   "  Guli  " 129,  159 

Starch   116 

Stays 150,   182 

Steeple  hat  60,  199 

Steeple  headdress 191 

Stiff   pleat  190 

Stockings  38 

Stomacher  138 

Story,   Thomas  .    ..13.   48,   87,   96,    147 
Straw 198,  203,  204,  209 


232 


INDEX. 


Stuarts   10 

Stubbes 145.  149,  15G 

Subscription  hat 59 

SufEolk   102 

Sugar-scoop  190 

Sumner    [Archbisliop]    95 

Surtout   42 

Suspenders    48 

Swartlimoor   125 

Swift,  Dean    67,   134,   205 

Sword  32,   63 

Taber,    Thomas   107 

Talbot,   Richard   48 

"  Tatler,"   The   5 

Tea   23 

Testimony  89 

Tillotson,  Archbishop 95 

Tobacco    24 

Toleration  7 

Tomkins,   Mary   83 

Top  hat  66,   74 

Toquet    192 

Trade  22 

Tradescant,    John    194 

Trousers    36 

Trunk  hose   37,   40 

Tub  preacher 128,  194 

Tucker,    John    107 

Turban   144,  201 

Turner,    Anne    198 

Type 6,  184 

Umbrella 48,   49,   50 

Underclothing  168 


Vane,  Sir  Henry 70 

Yerney,  Sir  R 50 

Victoria,   Queen  219 

Viollet    le    Due    1<J1 

Vizzard  156 

"Wagon"    bonnet  224 

Wain,   Nicholas 48 

Warder,  Ann — 

47,   110,   155,   165,   178,  216,  223 

Washington,   George 66,  101 

Washington,  Martha 208 

Watson,    John   216 

Weaver    132 

Wedding  161,  162 

Welsh    194 

Weslej',     John     14 

Whalebone  223 

Wharton,    Edward   83 

Whisk   126,  140 

Whitall,    Ann    160 

Whitall,   John   M 34 

White,   Rev.   Mr 207 

Whitehead,    George    76 

Wickes,   Rev.   George   Ill 

Wig 16,   33,    47,   95,  98 

"  Wilburite  "  bonnet 222 

Williams,    Rev.    Mr 197 

Wilson,   John  82 

Wimple  192,  193 

Witch   194 

Woolman,  John 50-52 

York  141 


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